Bought and Sold
by DandelionSea
Summary: When the monsters came to the Surface, you were very, very young. When humans realised they could overpower the monsters, they oppressed them, and took them as slaves. (HIATUS WARNING)
1. Bought and Sold

**A/N: So I was looking around in the fanfiction for Undertale and I noticed that there were no Slavery AUs, which shocked me because I've never seen a fandom without at least one. So I took it upon myself to fix this grievous error. Although, as much as I like the genre, I have never actually written for it. So this is my first time, and it may not be the best.**

* * *

When the monsters came to the Surface, you were very, very young. At first, everyone was afraid of them. Large plants with long sharp teeth, goats that walked upright, vindictive fish people - and worst of all, they could use magic . Humans hadn't been able to wield magic for thousands of years, and the fact there was now a race that looked so different from your own thatcould made your people very nervous.

But it didn't take long for them to notice how weak the monsters were, and soon enough, they were overpowered again. They were told to either return to the underground or risk being captured and sold off.

As slaves.

The idea of slavery never sat well with you. You have always been a very empathetic person - crying whenever someone else was hurt - so seeing a people so utterly oppressed and abused resonated deeply within your soul. But you know there's nothing you can really do about it. Politicians bicker, rallies are held; but in the end nothing changes.

So whatever brought you to that auction that day was a complete mystery, even to you.

"One rabbit monster, female; is great with cooking, cleaning and children. Starting the bidding at 400, do I have an offer."

You look over to the announcer and see a well dressed man standing next to a cowering bunny girl. She doesn't look to be much older than you - in fact, she seems your younger sister's age. Tears streak her face and her hands are held in front of her in bindings.

Great, ten minutes in and you are already sick to your stomach.

Everyone knows there is no way to restrain a monster's natural magic, but monsters are so weak that most humans can stop them anyways. Thus, many of the monster slaves have their hands restrained, but are allowed to show off their natural magic to the hungry crowd.

You watch as the bunny girl is sold off to a vicious looking man. You look away, saddened.

You don't belong here, with these people.

You need to leave.

"Now announcing lot number 482, a skeleton monster, male; is strong, loyal, and great for a bodyguard."

You raise an eyebrow and look over at the stage. Indeed, there was a skeleton monster there. Well over six feet tall andbeaming . You gawk, unable to believe there was someone able to look so proud on an auction stand.

"HELLO, HUMANS."

His voice is loud and smooth. It is the most upbeat sound in this awful place. You flinch as he is knocked over the head with a large baton. "Be silent, monster," an older guard snips. You scowl. He has got to be the most innocent person you have ever seen. You don't even know him and you can tell he has a total heart of gold.

"We'll start the bidding at 500, do we have any takers."

It is stunningly quiet before a pompous old woman wrapped in a mink scarf raises a sign. The bid goes to 525 from a young man in a too tight suit. The same person who bid on the bunny girl made a bid for 600.

Now, you don't know what on this earth possessed you to come here, but that pales in comparison to what you do next.

"1,000," you shout from the back. The crowd is silent. They all turn to you, but even with every single eye on you, you don't blink. No one is going to hurt that skeleton. You are going to make sure of that.

There isn't anyone in the audience that wants to pay 1,000 for some random monster with no real talents, so you immediately win and he is taken off stage.

You realise you're shaking. You need to sit down. What did you just do? What the hell did you just do? What were you thinking, buying a slave like that. You don't need a slave, you don't even want a slave. You weren't exactly hurting for money but damn, your sister is not going to be pleased when she finds out where last month's paycheck went.

You need to sit down.

You find a bench and sit, slowly uncapping a bottle of water you bought earlier and taking a sip. It takes a few minutes of breathing exercises, but you finally calm down enough to think again. First things first, you need to go pick up your slave.

No. You're not going to start thinking like that; like them. He is not your slave. He is a person, and you were going to treat him as such.

As soon as you go pick him up.

From the slavers.

Fuck. This day is going awful.

"So you're the youngster who bought this'in?"

You nod quietly at the skeleton's former master. He is a short, skinny old man with a well trimmed, graying mustache. He is holding the monster by a thin chain attached to his hands.

"Hate to break it to ya, sweetheart, but you overpaid," He laughs, fucking laughs . "This'un ain't worth a dime. All it does is break shit and make messes. A real trouble."

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!" The skeleton speaks. "I AM PLENTY USEFUL!"

"Shut up!" The man yanks on the chain and you feel your stomach turn. You decide you hate this guy and want to spend as little time around him as possible.

"If you don't mind," You say, trying to keep the coldness out of your voice. "I would like to sign the papers and leave now. I have a busy schedule to keep."

A busy schedule of trying to fix this mess.

"Hehehe, sure thing, sweetheart," The man tisks.

You stopped at an ATM before you went to sign the papers, so you had the money in cash to pay the man. He whistles.

"Now what kind of person comes to a slave auction, overpays for a useless slave, then pays in cash? Not that I'm complaining. Hehehe. Here's it's papers. You take care, sweetheart." He turns to walk off, but before he does, he adds one more thing. "Oh, and just as a warning - keep it away from the kitchen. Hehehe, good luck!"

You stand there for a moment, trying to hold back a torrent of insults that would only make matters worse. You take a deep breath, then let it out quickly. You put on your best fake smile and turn to the skeleton, whose name you read was Papyrus.

"Well, then," You say as cheerfully as possible. "Let's go home, shall we?"

Papyrus smiles back, seemingly unaware of all the tension. "OKAY!"

You lead him back to your car. You want to take off the cuffs on his wrists, but know that people would flip their shit over a monster walking on their own.

At the car, you motion for Papyrus to enter the passenger side. From there you remove the chains from his bony wrists and put the chain in your back pocket.

It is a long and awkward ride home, despite only living five minutes away. To you, it could have been five hours. You eventually clear your throat. "So… um… you can turn on the radio, if you want. I normally don't have it on but…" God, you're normally bad at conversations but this was a new level. You were talking to a slave. Your slave. You should be comforting him, or reassuring him that everything is alright but you just can't seem to get a good hold on the situation.

Papyrus seems to pick up on your discomfort and smiles. "THANK YOU HUMAN, BUT I DO NOT FIND SONGS ON THE RADIO PARTICULARLY… GOOD."

You laugh a little. "Thank god, me neither. But my sister absolutely loves them. She'll go on for ages about her new favorite hit by this boy band, and it just never ends. It's all just the same pop crap over and over, it's like people have forgotten whatreal music is!"

You're rambling. You know it, but god you just can't stop. Papyrus either understands or doesn't find it weird, because he simply nods along.

"YOU HAVE A SISTER?" He asks.

"Yes, actually," You reply. "Oh, god, I can't believe I forgot to tell you. She lives with me… so I guess you'll meet her soon."

And how the hell do you expect to explain this one to her? Just walking into the house with a monster in tow. You know her particular… feelings on monsters. You sigh, you'll just have to wing it.

"OH HUMAN!" Papyrus shouts, almost making you crash the car.

"WHAT, WHAT IS IT!?" You hit the brakes in panic.

"OH, HOW COULD I BE SO RUDE. I NEVER INTRODUCED MYSELF," You stop to catch your breath. "I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS. EX-ROYAL HEAD GUARDSMAN AND SPAGETTOR."

You smile and laugh a little.

You give him your name.

"HMM, THAT IS A NICE NAME, BUT I SHALL CALL YOU HUMAN," Papyrus smiles.

You feel a little offended.

"Oh, and what if I just call you monster?" You ask coyly.

"YOU MAY CALL ME WHATEVER YOU LIKE!" Papyrus' smile falters. "THAT'S WHAT THE OTHERS DID."

Shit. How could you forget. This man was a slave (ex-slave… whatever. You should really explain this shit to him) and he was used to being treated like one. He probably wanted to call you 'Human' because…

Shit.

"Papyrus," You say gently. "You can call me by my name. I won't take offense."

"REALLY? WOWIE!" He smiles. "THANK YOU, HUMAN."

You nod. "As long as you stay with me, you aren't… going to be treated any differently than anyone else, okay?"

"GOT IT!" Papyrus says, and god his voice is loud. You would tell him to be a little quieter if it wasn't for the fact that it could sound like an order. And the last thing you wanted to do was order around your new slave.

Huh, wonder how often that happened?

When you arrived at your house, you make sure to park in back. You didn't want any of the neighbors to see you with a monster. There was no need for nasty rumors to be spread around. Papyrus admired every little thing in your backyard, and damn if it wasn't like watching a child react to a field trip to a museum or the zoo. It was the cutest thing your eyes had ever seen.

You open the door and shout your sister's name.

No answer.

You find a note taped to the fridge.

Hey, there!

Went out for groceries.

Be back in a few.

~ Melody 3

"Huh, looks like she's not home," You tell Papyrus as he walks through the door.

"SO THIS IS YOUR FOOD MUSEUM?" He asks, admiring your kitchen.

"My what?"

You realize he's talking about the kitchen.

That's.

Precious.

"So, um," You say, shuffling your feet. "Make yourself at home."

Papyrus gives you a confused look. "DO YOU NOT HAVE A TASK FOR ME, HUMAN?"

You wince at his calling you human, but you don't correct him. Baby steps. "N- No. I, um… I."

Papyrus cocks his head like a lost puppy.

God, you do NOT want to be having this conversation.

"Why… Why don't I show you your room?" You say, shuffling out of the kitchen and up the stairs. "It's just an old guest bedroom, and we don't have that many guests so… uh… it might be a little dusty."

You open up the guest bedroom and GOD you are not ready for this. Your sister has apparently holed up in this room and made it into her little art studio. How she did this without your noticing is beyond you, but now there is a mess of papers and fabrics and sewing needles everywhere.

"O- Oh, I-I'm so sorry! I had no idea it would be" You stammer. "Here, let me just… clean this up real quick." You bend down to pick up a half-finished shirt.

"NO, NO, ALLOW ME," Papyrus says, cleaning with you.

"Papyrus, you don't have to-"

"NONSENSE!" Papyrus smiles. "I HAVE ALREADY BURDENED YOU TOO MUCH. I WON'T HAVE YOU CLEANING FOR MY SAKE. BESIDES, AFTER YEARS OF DEALING WITH MY OWN BROTHER, I AM WELL EQUIPPED TO SORT OUT UNRULY MESSES."

You smile genuinely. Not many people can make you do that, save your sister.

Speaking of whom…

"OH MY GOD!" You hear your name shouted from downstairs. "WE'VE BEEN ROBBED!"

"What!?" You call back, slightly panicked. you tell Papyrus to stay put and run down the stairs. You reach the kitchen to find your sister with nine bags of groceries on her arms, waving them around.

"What happened?" You ask, winded

"Okay! So I was checking out at the grocery store and because I'm a responsible adult I was checking our balance to see if we had enough for me to get the expensive gum that I like and anyways I was checking the balance and our savings is down a thousand dollars-"

"Mel," You say, exasperated.

"-So I'm freaking out but I still got the groceries because whoever took the money didn't touch out checking and no I have them all here so there's no reason to go to the car-"

"Mel, that's not-" You try to break it, but she just keeps going.

"-but IT'S ALL OKAY!" She shouts, making an exaggerated hand movement that dumps a loaf of bread on the ground. "Because my internet friend is a computer hacker and he says that he can track down where the withdrawal was made and is that a skeleton?"

You hold your head in your hands, then turn. Sure enough, Papyrus is standing in the doorway.

"Oh."

Uh oh.

"My."

Here we go.

"GOD!"

All of the groceries were dumped, abandoned on the ground as Melody rushes up Papyrus at full speed.

"Oh my god! A real life monster, right here! I can't believe it! Who are you what's your name do you have any family are you a really a skeleton are you from around here what's your favorite color!?"

"I'M PAPYRUS, MY NAME IS PAPYRUS, MY BROTHER SANS, YES, I DON'T KNOW AND BLUE."

You are honestly surprised he kept up with all that. Your sister must be too, because she squees with excitement, jumping around in a circle.

"Oh my god what are you doing here?" Melody's smile fades as she realizes and turns around. "YOU" She thrusts a finger at you. "YOU BOUGHT A SLAVE!?"

You raise your hands defensively, but the torrent has started.

"Oh my GOD I can't believe you! How could you? I thought you were above this? My own sibling bought a - is THAT why our savings were down? And you just!"

She's sputtering now, unable to articulate her outrage. You huff. This could have gone a lot better.

"HUMAN? ARE YOU ALRIGHT?" Papyrus looks genuinely concerned. You almost want to sigh in relief at that alone. If Papyrus likes your sister that will make all of this much easier.

Mel takes a deep breath, about to start a her rant back when you cut her off with a decisive motion. "Mel. Can we talk for a moment? In private?"

Melody takes a deep, deep breath, then turns to Papyrus. "Can you give us a minute? I have to take some sense into my idiot backstabbing sibling."

Papyrus smiles brightly and nods. "OF COURSE!" He walks off back upstairs and your sister goes back to glaring at you.

You put your head in your hand and lean on the kitchen island. "This looks bad, doesn't it?"

"Mmhm," Your sister crosses her arms. There is a long moment of silence, and of course it's Melody who breaks it. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"I don't know, I just…" You sigh, trying to put your feelings into words. "I just had to, Mel. He was at that auction with all those cruel people and I just couldn't-"

"Wait you were where!? " Melody cries, outraged again. "What in gods name were you doing in a place like that?"

"Like I said I don't know!" You raise your voice a little too much, then quiet back down. "It's complicated."

"You're telling me," Melody leans back.

Another silence; this time you're the one to break it.

"You know I would never-"

"Of course you wouldn't!" Mel replies instantly. "I'd kick your ass and disown you if you did!"

You nod.

Mel sighs, "I think I get it; For now, at least." Mel thinks for a moment, then she realises. "Hey, um… where's he gonna stay?"

You narrow your eyes. "That reminds me. Where have you been housing your latest project?"

Mel blushes and shuffles. "I… uh… well… you see, the sewing machine needed an outlet and there wasn't a free one in my room and…" You glare at her fondly. "... I'll just go clean that up."

You shake your head as she leaves, and you turn back to the forgotten groceries and slowly pick them up. You're putting everything away as slowly as possible as if that alone can stave off dealing with the rest of this clusterfuck of a situation.

You glance at Papyrus' papers you'd left on the kitchen island. A part of you wants to read them; a morbid kind of curiosity taking over. The other part tells you to respect Papyrus' privacy - to be better than those other humans. You eventually just end up just shoving them in the clutter drawer and closing them off.

To recap the day, you took a random trip to the most sickening display of human cruelty in the world, bought a person , and now you are housing said person with your manic sister in your suburban house.

God, you need a drink.


	2. Getting Settled In

The next morning you wake up to a hammering headache. God, what did you do last night?

Oh yeah…

You had decided that after a long day of buying slaves and freaking out your sister, you deserved that drink. You had poured yourself a glass and sat in front of the T.V. for the rest of the night watching reruns of infomercials. You try to think if you had seen Melody or Papyrus at all after they had gone upstairs, but you don't recall. That wasn't exactly the most responsiblething for you to have done in this situation, but you really need that drink.

Either way, it is time to start the day, even if it is a bit late.

Your alarm is the sun, and you rise with it to make the most of each day.

The same cannot be said for your sister.

"Just lemme call in sick. I think I'm coming down with something anyways," Melody mumbles into her pillow.

"No, you did that last week," You say, shaking her more.

"But I really waaas sick," Mel whines, turning over.

"For just a day? On the day of a test? That you didn't study for?" You frown, shaking your head. "What were you even doinglast night?"

"Talking with Papyrus," She smiles, closing her eyes again. "He's really interesting, ya know - and nice too."

You are very glad that they were becoming friends. That had been your greatest concern taking him home - that he wouldn't like Melody. She is… a bit much for some people. But she and Papyrus seem to be kindred spirits.

"Glad to see the two of you getting along, now get up," You leave the room and make breakfast; a simple ham-and-cheese omelet with toast. You almost forget to make more than two, then spend almost ten minutes wondering if Papyrus could even eat what you had made. You ultimately decide to make him one anyways, and set the table for three.

"Mel, I don't hear you up!" You call up the stairs.

"'m up 'm up," You hear the groggy voice. It was obvious from the voice she was not up, but it was only another two minutes before she was down the stairs, fully dressed and ready to go. Mel grabs her food and leaves for school. You sigh. Sometimes you wonder why you even set a place for her in the morning. But you have always strived to make everyone feel included.

Speaking of everyone…

You lightly tap on Papyrus' door.

"Papyrus?" you open the door slightly. He is sleeping soundly under the covers. He is still wearing the bland slave clothes that he came here in. You grimace. You'll have to buy clothes for him later. You wonder where you'll find clothes that fit someone his size…

Oh well, at least the room is looking better.

"hmm? oH, HELLO, HUMAN," Papyrus sits up and stretches.

"Oh I'm sorry," You say, feeling embarrassed. "I didn't mean to wake you."

"NONSENSE!" He slides out of bed and starts putting back the sheets. "THIS IS LATER THAN I USUALLY SLEEP. THOUGH I WAS UP LATE LAST NIGHT. YOUR SISTER WAS QUITE ENTERTAINING."

"That she is," you agree quietly. "I made breakfast downstairs if you want some."

He nods enthusiastically and follows you down the stairs. You turn the T.V. on for some background noise and sit at the table with him.

"I MUST ASK, WHERE IS THE OTHER HUMAN?"

You look up from your eggs and swallow. "She went to school."

"SHE IS STILL IN SCHOOL?"

You nod.

"WOWIE, SHE SEEMED SO MATURE…"

You almost choke on my eggs. That is the first time you have ever heard your sister be called mature. Papyrus doesn't seem the type to be sarcastic, and so you take him at his word.

"Are you comfortable in your room?" You ask, not wanting there to be any more uncomfortable silence.

Papyrus nods.

More silence.

"SO… UH… HUMAN," God you wished he would stop calling you that. "I'M NOT SURE HOW TO ASK THIS BUT…"

Oh no. You hope he's not going to ask what you think he's going to ask.

"WHY DID YOU CHOOSE ME?"

You put your fork down. Suddenly you are feeling sick, and the eggs weren't helping. There is another long silence, and you are scrambling for an answer, anything that could reassure him of the situation.

"I don't know, It was kind of an impulse."

Good job.

You just made that sound a thousand times worse.

More silence.

"IS THERE ANYTHING SPECIFIC THAT YOU-"

"No!" You quickly cut him off. He flinches and you mentally berate yourself for being so sharp. "I mean… look, you- I- I don't know what I'm doing. I'm not a slaver. I have never, ever entertained the idea of buying or owning another person. It's wrong."

Papyrus looks confused. Happy, but confused.

"IN THE UNDERGROUND, SLAVERY ISN'T NOR EVER HAS BEEN A THING. I STILL DON'T FULLY UNDERSTAND IT."

"Me neither," You mutter.

"I THOUGHT THAT, ONCE THE BARRIER WAS BROKEN, MONSTERS WOULD BE FREE TO LIVE WITH HUMANS. I THOUGHT THAT HUMANS WOULD ALL BE GOOD LIKE FRISK WAS."

You feel your heart break some, and your appetite is officially gone.

"I have to work today," You tell Papyrus. "I'm sorry but I really can't the day off." You don't tell him it's because you can't lie worth a shit and you don't want to admit to buying a slave.

"I UNDERSTAND," He perks back up. Wow, he has fast recovery time.

You nod, trying not to make this anymore awkward than it already is. "Yeah, so um… you'll be staying alone, obviously. You can do whatever you want, um… everything is pretty much safe to play with. Just don't go outside for now, and try not to burn the house down."

"I WILL NOT DISAPPOINT! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM WONDERFUL AT NOT BURNING HOUSES DOWN, AND HAVE ONLY DONE SO A MAXIMUM OF TWO TIMES, NYAHAHA" He makes a little mock salute, and you feel your spirits rise again. You sincerely hope that he's joking about burning houses down, but you feel it serves you right if he does anyways.

"Well then," You say, gathering your things. "I will try to get off early, but I probably won't be back before Mel. Oh, I almost forgot." You fish out a pen and some paper from your purse. "Here is my phone number, incase you need anything while I'm gone. I'll give you Mel's too." You jot down the numbers and point him in the direction of the phone.

You wave one more time before leaving and you set off.

When you were a kid, you loved the stars.

It fascinated you to no end that those little pin pricks in the sky were actually suns as big as earth's and bigger, each with their own earths floating around them. The concept alone was mesmerising, and you drove your teachers half mad with questions they simply could not answer. Then you discovered math. And you were good at it. Top of your class, even. You loved the way everything in the universe just… fit together. Equations to explain shapes, equations to explain equations. The universe seemed so simple when it was boiled down to a string of numbers.

So, naturally, you became an astrophysicist.

You're still working on your PHD, but you are done with all of your schooling, all that's left is a dissertation that you were still trying to find a topic to write on. There were just so many good ones.

There wasn't much that could spark your interest, or make you talkative in a conversation, but bring up the stars and the nature of the universe, and you're in.

And, as is the sort of thing that happens when you graduate from prestigious colleges Summa Cum Laude, you were able to get a job right off the bat at the place you had been interning at for years.

And you love it.

Arriving at work, you are greeted by your co-worker friends. You change in the locker room, you gather your notes, you check the monitors in the main room and you head to your desk.

It's just a normal day. Nothing is different.

Except you.

You feel different.

You shake your head and try to focus on the influx of data on the screen. You watch silently for any anomalies, documenting every wave in your brain and on your notes. Smart as you are, you have a shit memory.

About an hour in, you hear the shuffling of tiny feet.

"Good Morning, Alphys," You turn and wave. Alphys jumps and drops the box she was holding. You apologize for startling her and help her pick up the folders.

"How have you been?" You ask as she picks up the last of the folders.

"O-oh, y- y- you know," She stutters. "Just, uh, h- hanging in there, hehe."

Alphys started around the same time that you had started your internship. Well, you use the word 'started' loosely. She had been bought by the company because of her scientific background. Despite that, they mostly had her doing assistant work, sorting written copies of files, getting lunches. She didn't seem to mind, though. She had told you once that she used to be in robotics anyway, so she didn't think she would be of too much help.

"I'm free for lunch, if you wanna join up around noon," You tell her, and she seems to perk up a bit. Alphys was the type to need constant company, and it was something she rarely got here.

"I'd like that," She says quietly before scampering off. You smile. You've always liked Alphys. In the same way Papyrus and Mel get along, you and Alphys seem to share a bond. She was shy, yet very passionate when you got to know her. She could go on for hours about topics that she deemed revelevent, and you could listen to her rant for hours, so it balanced out.

True to your word, you and Alphys meet up in the break room. You heat up two cups of ramen, quietly listening to the new report playing on the T.V.

"A rogue monster has escaped custody," A woman wearing too much makeup states on screen. "Be on the lookout for this monster. She has head hair, one eye and is a pisces-type. Consider her armed and dangerous. If spotted, do not approach."

You steal a glance at the picture on screen. The rogue is definitely a fish-monster, complete with gills and everything. She is looking at the camera with literal murder in her eyes, a determined kind of look that you had never seen before in the beaten down monster-slaves you were so used to seeing. It almost brought a smile to your face knowing that not all surface monsters had been beaten down.

It seems that Alphys shares the sentiment because she is looking at the screen with a mixture of longing and hope that sears a hole in your heart just the way Papyrus did.

And then you're sick again.

How could you sit here with Alphys like this when you literally own one of her kind? What kind of sick person were you to sit two feet away from a slave and act like nothing was wrong. That everything was just fine and dandy when her kind was being bought and sold.

"A-are you a-a-alright?" Alphys managed to snap you out of your thoughts.

"I'm fine," you say, putting back on that fake smile. "Everythings fine."

She doesn't believe you, but she doesn't say anything.

Someone else enters the room.

"Well, then, would you look at that, it looks like the monster-lover's here today."

You sigh. In life, there are these constants. And one of these constants is that no matter how many people you are friendly with, there is always going to be that one prick who has to ruin people's day. And in your case, there's two of them.

Brad and Maddie. The janitor and the onsite nurse. Those two were the gossip corner - the drama-starters, the trouble makers. Constantly in on-and-off affairs with each other, they were the most obnoxious people you have ever met.

"And she's having lunch with the file sorter," Maddie sneered. "What's the matter? Couldn't find any people to sit with?"

You ignore them while Alphys dips her head, trying not to be seen. But it doesn't matter. Brad grabs Alphys by her spikes and pulls her back. "Don't you have something better to be doing right now?"

"I- uh- I- I…" Alphys is sweating and you clench your fists.

"She's eating with me, right now," you state simply, hoping that would be enough.

Of course it's not.

"Ha, You think it wants to eat with you?" Mattie cackles. "Not that what it wants really matters, but still."

You don't want to know, but you ask anyways.

"And why wouldn't Alphys want to eat with me?" You ask.

Brad thankfully let's Alphys' head go and he glares maniacally at you. "Why would a monster want to eat with a slave-owner?"

You can feel a cold sweat breaking out. Your stomach turns. Oh god, no… how could he possible know?

Alphys looks over at you with shock and disbelief. There is a silent plea for a denial, but you suck at lying so you just look away. Even from the corner of your eyes, you can see her face change from disbelief to hurt.

"My friend was at the auction, ya know," Brad continues on. "Says you out bid him. By a lot. Come on, monster-lover, spit it out. What made you so keen on getting that one? Did you find him attractive."

You blush despite what he said not being true in the slightest. Papyrus was cute, but in a little kid kind of way. You wouldnever think of him in a sexual manner. And even if you did, what they were insinuating was wrong on so many levels… your blush deepens with rage.

Maddie seems to find this whole thing hilarious, and the only solace is that she is laughing so hard that she can't seem to find a breath to insult you with. So instead the two of them make their way to the other end of the room, leaving you alone with your possibly-ex-friend.

There was a long, long silence. Alphys just looks down at her hands.

"Why?" She finally asks, quiet and under her breath, like she's afraid that she'll be punished for speaking.

"Alphys, I-" You start, then stop. You can't explain yourself. What you did was… unforgivable. You bought into a system you swore to never be a part of. You cannot justify your actions, and even if you could you wouldn't expect Alphys to forgive you.

Alphys seems to take your silence as a dismissal; either that or she just doesn't want to be around you. She throws out her barely touched noodles and leaves.

You have never been more disgusted with yourself than you are now.

Your day goes by slowly from then on out. You can barely focus, guilt and shame pressing on your mind. You don't see or hear from Alphys for the rest of the day. That's fine with you. You didn't really want to see her either. Just the thought makes your insides burn with embarrassment.

You are incredibly thankful when your boss lets you go home early and even more thankful when see Melody walking towards the front door of your house.

"Hey, Mel," you say lightly. Your sister jumps at your voice then tackles you with a hug. God, you need this right now.

"So you won't believe what happened today!" Melody starts as she walks into the house. "So, we get this new teacher and they're super quiet but we're all like 'hey, that's cool, we don't want to be here either' but then they make us play this game where we all tell one cool thing about ourselves and then they gave us candy and-"

Melody is cut off by the same thing that makes your jaw completely unhinge.

You vaguely remember the warning to keep Papyrus out of the kitchen.

"HUMANS! I HAVE MADE YOU SPAGHETTI!"

God, how you wish you had listened.

"Wooooah, it's even on the ceiling !" Mel says. "How is that even possible?"

With 10 foot tall ceilings, you really aren't sure either. You're about to say something when you look at Papyrus. He is holding a pot of almost blackened spaghetti, looking… apprehensive? It was a very weird look on him; so absolutely wrong and unnatural. It makes you wonder what happened in his past that would make him look so…

Oh…

Right…

Guess messing up your owner's kitch wouldn't fly so well with other slave masters, would it?

You shake your head, laughing somewhat in earnest. "Well then," You finally say. "You certainly have, Papyrus." You grab a rag from one of the drawers and sling it over your shoulder. "Why don't the two of you go eat in the living room and I'll handle clean up, okay?"

Papyrus' uncomfortable expression fades and is replaced by pure delight. It seems the sentiment is shared between the two, and they rush off, leaving you with a mess of epic proportions.

How Papyrus managed to do this was completely unfathomable. When you had said "don't burn the house down," you had meant it as a joke, but now you are seriously considering preventative measures to protect your kitchen.

Honestly, if you forget about the hours of work it was going to take to clean this place up, it's kinda hilarious.

Your sister calls your name.

"Yeah?" You call back.

"You have got to try this!" Your sister says. "It's incredible!"

The burnt spaghetti? Wait - how do you even burn spaghetti? Papyrus is becoming more and more of an enigma.

"Maybe later," you call back.

You get the counters wiped down - how you are going to get the scorch marks off is another issue entirely - and now you are going to move on to the ceiling. Now is time for the question of how. You are five-foot-nine, so you'd only need another four-foot-three inch boost to make it there. You got this.

One wobbly bar stool later and you're mopping the ceiling. Wobbly being the key word here. It isn't long before you lose your balance standing on your tiptoes and come crashing down.

You expect to hit the floor with a thud, get a few bruises, and then regret your life choices - but instead you find yourself hovering a foot off the ground.

"Wha-"

You look up.

Papyrus is standing there, arm outstretched and magic blazing. You look at your own hands and find a blue aura has over taken you.

"WORRY NOT, HUMAN, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE STOPPED YOUR FALL, SAVING YOU FROM CERTAIN EMBARRASSMENT" He says boisterously.

"oh…" is all you manage.

You have seen other monsters do magic before. It was pretty common place for slaves to be doing construction work, or even some simpler tasks with their magic - heck, Alphys sometimes used her electricity magic in the office to jump start things - but it was a totally different experience to be enveloped in it. It was… warm… yet cold at the same time. Was this what it was like to have magic?

"Oh cooool!" Melody's voice rings out when she enters the kitchen. "Is that your magic?"

"NYAHAHA, WHAT ELSE WOULD IT BE?" Papyrus sounds prouds.

"That is amazing! How are you doing that?" Mel's eyes are shining in a way that you know she isn't going to be satisfied untilall of her questions had been answered.

Papyrus lets you down and you steady yourself on your feet.

You now have help cleaning the kitchen in the form of Papyrus lifting Melody off the ground and her wiping off the hard to reach places - after you made sure it was safe, of course. Something about this whole situation feels so... domestic to you. It makes another wave of nausea hit you hard. God, what would have happened to Papyrus if he had ended up anywhere else? He is so, so sweet that you cannot fathom how he was able to survive as a slave with that innocence intact. He's so much like your sister that you can't help up reverse the rolls in your head, thinking of what it would be like if it was your sister who was being bought and sold. You subconsciously clench your fists. You definitely wouldn't just be blowing off the slavery issue then... Would you?

"HUMAN?" Papyrus' voice breaks into your thoughts. "ARE YOU ALRIGHT?"

You realize you've been staring at the stove for a while.

"Yeah, I'm good," you breath, trying to quell the burning disgust in your pit. You cannot have a break down now, God, you just cannot. You put on your big smile and turn to them, "You guys wanna watch a movie?"

"Absolutely!" Melody says as she floats down from the top cabinet.

Okay, so maybe you were ignoring the issue. That's okay. The issue was fucked up beyond belief, and right now you deserve some mind numbing entertainment.

Papyrus and Melody almost instantly agree on movies they like, and that makes this a lot easier. They settle down for a disney movie pretty quickly, and when Papyrus offers to make popcorn, you politely decline and offer to make it yourself.

In the kitchen it is somewhat quiet, and that gives you time to think, and God do you not want to think right now. Alphys' disappointed face comes to mind first, and you start making half apologies in your head, trying once again to explain yourself. You had to help him, you just had to. Even if there are thousands of others like him, and you can't help them all. Something about this one made you need to help. But how on earth could you say that to Alphys, someone who may spend the rest of their natural life as a slave. You didn't buy Papyrus to hurt him, but that still seems sickeningly close to getting a pet. And if that wasn't ironic enough since Mel was allergic to almost every type of pet, and had always been wanting one.

Maybe that's why she took to the situation so well.

No! Bad thoughts! This was absolutely ridiculous ! You slam your hand against the running microwave in frustration.

You hear your name lightly spoken from the doorway. Melody is standing there, looking sad. You just stand there, fist on the microwave. She's looking at you so oddly and… oh… you wipe your eyes. You hadn't realized you'd been crying.

Mel looks so defeated and sad - almost identical to back when you had just lost your mother . It made you feel sick again, and suddenly you had the urge to go bury yourself in the back yard.

Mel sighs, "I'm frustrated too."

"I don't… I don't know what to make of this situation. At all," you reply, feeling another wave of exhaustion.

"Well," Melody lowers her voice and looks behind her. "We could always try to emancipate him."

The thought wasn't a new one. Hell, it had been your first thought when you had shouted out at the stupid auction. The problem was, emancipation wasn't exactly the easiest thing to obtain. It would take months, maybe even years, and even then there is no guarantee that they would let Papyrus go back to the underground. There was even a chance that the government would take him away and do god knows what to him!

Still.

You want to help him.

"We can try," you nod, looking at the big smile that ended up on Mel's face. "But try not to tell him, okay? I don't want to give him false hope if this doesn't work out."

Mel gives a single nod and bounds out of the room. You follow with a bowl of buttery popcorn. You watch the movie, though not as intently as the other two. You mostly try to recall anything you knew about the law; anything that you might know that could help give Papyrus his life back.


	3. Cognitive Dissonace

**A/N: Thank you so much for your comments and encouragement!**

 **If anyone finds any other Undertale slave AU fics, please link it to me. I love this genre so much, and I hope that there are more fics to come.**

* * *

The next day you call into work. Since rumor seems to have already spread throughout the whole office anyways, you don't see the point in putting up a farce. Besides, right now you couldn't be in the same room as Alphys; the guilt is eating at you.

The next thing you do is make a phone call to John. You set up an appointment with him, then you quickly head up to check on Papyrus and Melody. Mel seems to have already gone to school, and Papyrus is sitting on his bed, doing a word search in a puzzle book you forgot you had.

"OH, HELLO, HUMAN," He says, quickly putting the book down. You walk over and examine it. It is a book you had gotten Melody for Christmas almost two years ago. She solved about all of two of them before getting board. You look up at Papyrus, who has an almost guilty look on his face. He seems uncharacteristically downtrodden, like he thinks you are going to take the book away.

Of course he thinks you're about to take it away. A monster touching things that belong to a human was definitely not something that was often permitted. Not that you would ever even think of taking the book away, but how could he know that. He hardly knows you. And the more you think about it, you hardly know him.

That, you decide, has to change.

"Papyrus," you say as gently as you can manage. "Why don't you come down to the dining room and we can have breakfast."

Papyrus smiles and walks down the stairs with as much enthusiasm as he puts into everything. This morning it was just cereal, but you let Papyrus choose from the six or seven brands that your sister bought. Unfortunately, she bought only the sugary, overly sweet ones, so you settle on some frosted oats and skim milk.

Breakfast hasn't gotten any less awkward, and you make a mental note to tell your sister to eat with you from now on because you just couldn't hand these types of situations.

"So, um," You start, trying to make this sound as normal as possible. "How- where- um… So tell me a little about yourself!"

Papyrus looks confused, then delighted.

"WELL, HUMAN, THERE IS SO MUCH TO KNOW, AS I AM VERY INTERESTING," He thinks for a moment. "HMM, WHERE SHALL I BEGIN?"

He has the confidence that you wish you could have. He goes in detail with his life story. You find out a lot of interesting things about him. Like the fact that he likes puzzles (you store that information away for future use), and the fact that he in the royal guard before the barrier broke, through with the way he described it, it seemed more like a pity position. He had an older brother named Sans, who he has much to say about, and he had several friends. To you, it seems, he had a very normal life in the underground - at least, as normal as it got down there. Which left just one question.

"So how did you end up… here?" You finally manage the nerve ask.

Papyrus seems to come down from his happy memories, and you would feel like an ass if it wasn't for the fact that you had to know. Not just for curiosity sake - but for the sake of what happens next.

"WHEN THE BARRIER WAS BROKEN, MY BROTHER AND I WERE SOME OF THE FIRST MONSTERS ON THE SURFACE," He spoke as softly has he could manage. "WE DIDN'T STAY LONG, THOUGH; WHEN THINGS STARTED LOOKING BAD FOR MONSTERS, SANS MADE US MOVE BACK TO OUR OLD HOME IN THE UNDERGROUND."

You nod, understandingly. "Then why did you come back?"

Papyrus looks down. "THERE WERE... SOME PEOPLE WE LEFT BEHIND. I WANTED TO FIND THEM."

That was… heartbreaking. You just look at him for almost a full minute. Papyrus isn't just here as a casualty of a bad situation, he chose to come back to find his friends. And you don't doubt for a second that is just what this guy would do, whether he was fully aware of the dangers or not.

Which means…

"Did someone come back with you?" You ask, praying for the answer to be no. You want to help Papyrus, you really do, but you can't go around freeing every enslaved monster. That was too daunting of a task that not even the most determined person in the world could handle. Up until now you had sat up the sidelines, not intervening in the affairs of monsters and humans. You are already involving yourself in more than you wanted.

"NO, IT WAS JUST ME." You let out a breath you didn't even know you were holding. At the same time, you feel a pang of sadness at that. That means that Papyrus' brother may still be looking for him in the underground, or worse, had come up to the surface to expand his search.

You realize that Papyrus is looking at you expectantly. Why? What is that look supposed to mean? Does he want you to say something? Because you don't think "I'm sorry" can cover a situation like this. Hell, there isn't a goddamn word that you can say that would make this situation any better.

Papyrus eventually lets whatever was on his mind side, and goes back to eating. You sit there for a little while longer, cereal too soggy to eat but not wanting to leave just yet. Leaving meant facing the world, and you just don't feel prepared for that. Eventually, though, you know you put this off any longer, and you rise, taking the dishes with you.

"I'm going shopping," You inform him. "You still have my number, in case anything goes wrong?" Papyrus nods. "Okay, so same rules apply today. Don't go outside, and… um… I'd like to cook with you tonight, so please try to keep the kitchen clean." You say as politely as possible. It seems that Papyrus really likes cooking, and you just can't bring yourself to take that away from him, so you resolve to stay with him next time he cooks. The household fire extinguisher is not too far from there, after all.

You leave the house and you feel like you can breathe right for the first time all day, despite not even noticing your breath before.

Time to get the day started.

Your first stop is at a clothing store not far from the complex. It isn't too high-end but it still has clothes that you and your sister like, and they aren't too expensive. You have never bought men's clothes before in your life, and you, being about average height, have no idea where to begin finding things that will fit Papyrus.

Well, you can always keep the receipt.

You had thought about bring Papyrus with you to pick out his own clothes, but you decided against it in the end. There would just be too many complications with that right now.

So instead you spend an hour sifting through shirts of various sizes, trying to estimate Papyrus' height, width and style.

When you finally decide to check out, you hear a loud crash. Everyone's heads turn and there, not too far from where you were, was a monster, desperately trying to clean up a rack they had knocked over.

"Worthless thing!" You hear a man shout, quite possibly the manager from the way he was dressed. You here stammered apologies and loud "thumping" noises, but you don't look. These kinds of things happen often, and the best thing to do was walk away. You've done it before a thousand times - but this time, something was different. You keep your eyes firmly on the ground and keep walking. There is nothing you can do. The shouts eventually die down as you are exiting the store, and you make it all the way to your car before you burst into tears.

You're a coward.

You know it.

But there was nothing you could have done.

If you had gone over there to try and help, you wouldn't have made a difference, and at worst you could have made things worse for the monster. You bury your head in your hands. What has gotten into you?

You've never hated monsters, you've never even disliked them - Hell, you considered Alphys a friend… but until recently slavery has just seemed like a necessary evil; a fact of life that couldn't be changed.

Monster Rights has always been your sister's thing, not yours. You have lived with this culture your entire adult life - so why now? Why is it that now you suddenly care?

But something is different now. Something has changed - You.

Because you know you can make a difference now.

Now, you know that doing nothing was a choice, not a necessity. You could have intervened, just like you did with Papyrus, but you chose not to.

And God if that isn't a responsibility you aren't ready to handle.

A wave of tiredness falls over you. You feel responsible and powerless at the same time. You don't think you can stand living on the sidelines anymore. You shake it off. For now, you had to take care of what you had started.

You are late for your meeting with John.

"I'm so sorry!" you say, winded as you stop by your friend-and-lawyer's table at the coffee shop.

"Don't be, I'm glad you decided to show at all," John smiles sarcastically. "I ordered you a cinnamon bun… I ate it, but I did order you one."

You laugh a little and sit next to him. John has helped out your family so often, it's hard to remember life without him. Your mother had had a habit of getting in trouble with the law for various reasons, but she never saw prison time thanks to John.

"So what brings to my office today?" He asks, getting serious - or at least as serious as John can get. "You were pretty vague over the phone."

"I need you to draw up some emancipation papers," You tell him. He raises an eyebrow at this and lowers his coffee.

"Emancipation papers? You know, if I didn't know you better I would say that that sounded like you had bought a…"

You nod sadly and he makes an unreadable face.

"What on earth possessed you to do that?"

"I don't know, but I want to get him freed as soon as possible," You say decisively.

John sighs and puts his head in his hands. "Now, I like you, you know that, but do you have any idea how complex monster law is?"

"I don't care," you say. "I want it done."

John chuckles. "That's the first time I've heard you sound adamant about something. But I'm not sure where to even start with this." You open your mouth to argue, but he puts a hand up. "I'm not saying I can't. Let's just start from the beginning. How on earth did you end up with a slave?"

If he only knew how often you've been asking yourself the same thing. You tell everything. Starting with your "casual stroll" in the auction house to buying clothes and ending with the epiphany you had had in the car.

"I see," He says simply when you are done. "I think I can work with this situation, but before I go any further, I need you to tell me something, and I need you to answer honestly - how far are you going to take this?"

"I don't understand," You say truthfully.

"I mean," John leans over the table. "If I help you draw up the papers, is that going to be the end of it? Or am I going to have to do the same thing six months from now?"

You sit there, stunned. You can't answer him - because you don't know. Will this be the end of it? Once as you get Papyrus home you thought it would be over but… would it? Saving one person wouldn't end the entire slave-system, and you suddenly realize that bothers you. Can you destroy the system? Do you even want to?

John, sensing your hesitation, waves a hand dismissively, "Doesn't matter what you answer. I'll still take the case - I just wanted to know because I do have other clients, and if I'm about to fight a civil rights battle then I'm going to need some time to get ready."

You smile. "Thanks, John. That means a lot. I didn't know you were such a Monster Rights Activist."

"I'm not," He says, taking another sip of coffee. "I'm just a lawyer."

You are slightly disappointed, but you are happy he'll take the case anyways.

"Anyways," John smiles, taking out a notepad. "I'm not an expert on monster law, but I do know enough to know we have our work cut out for us."

You hand John a copy of all of Papyrus' paperwork before you leave. You had tried to keep your eyes away, but you know that if you wanted to help you had to look. Luckily there isn't much in there that either you don't already know or that he hasn't already told you.

John tells you he will be in touch, and leaves you to go home.

The night goes by smoothly. Papyrus cooks again, but this time he has Melody as an assistant, and she is able to mostly keep the kitchen in one piece. You let the two of them decide what movie they want to watch for the night while you research more on monster law.

Searching emancipation on the web immediately brings up the Monster Rights website. You click on it. There are transcribed copies of laws regarding the ownership of monsters:

A monster is defined as any creature whose body is composed of mostly (over 63.9%) of magic and turns to dust upon expiration.

A monster existing above the designated Underground zone without the required documents as designated in section III article I is considered property of the state unless claims are made by one or more individual(s), and cannot be returned to the Underground unless the current employer files for emancipation.

If a monster is to at any point exit the designated Underground zone without written approval of an appointed authority figure, it is immediately in violation of the terms of surrender and may be taken into government custody. After being taken into custody, their emancipated status shall be revoked and it will become the legal property of their captor, who is at liberty to relocate it as they see fit.

You click on the link for Emancipation.

A monster is considered emancipated if it is

A documented residence of a designated Underground zone. Carrying on its person written approval for above ground excursions

A monster's current employer may choose to file for Emancipation for the following reasons:

The monster is too dangerous to continue with their workload The monster is sick, old, or too weak to continue with their workload. The monster has completed the task it has been assigned and is no longer of use.

Should a monster be deemed by their employer or an official of the state to be dangerous, they will be removed from the public. In the other cases of emancipation, the monster shall be returned to the Underground within 24 hours of their release.

The state can, at any time during the emancipation process, deny the request and/or take possession of the monster for the following reasons:

The monster is believed to be faking its illness The monster is believed to have been involved in criminal activity The monster is considered an asset to the state.

You read for a few more hours, taking note of certain clauses that might be helpful in persuading a judge of your case. You are particularly concerned about them taking Papyrus away during the process. You read on several successful cases and a few catastrophic ones, though the ratio seems to be skewed heavily in your favor. The more you read, the more you feel the pit growing in your stomach. You have to take constant breaks to keep your head clear from all of the cynical talk about slavery. And they don't even have the gall to call it that! Not once in any of the legal documents do you see the word "slave" or "owner".

You have to stop when you reach the comments.

People arguing morals. Arguing right and wrong and opinions and middle grounds and oppression disguised as compromise…

It makes you so sick.

Your sister calls your name.

You look up from your computer screen. "Yeah?"

"Do you want to go stargazing with us?" Melody has your old telescope under her arm and Papyrus is carrying a picnic blanket.

"Where are we going to go?" You ask, nervously.

Melody snorts. "We have a backyard, don't we?"

You set out with the pair, making sure that there are no peeping neighbors looking over the fences. You are sure they have found out by now about your new "resident", but you still don't want them looking in on your personal life. You help your sister set up the telescope and watch her try to teach Papyrus the names of the constellations.

Listening in, you learn that in the Underground there are actually caves with star-like rocks in them that monsters use as their makeshift stars. You smile and wonder what that looks like.

"I'd like to see that," You mutter, mostly to yourself.

"NONSENSE," Papyrus says. "WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO SEE THOSE OLD ROCKS WHEN YOU HAVE REAL STARS TO LOOK AT?"

You make a small noise and let their conversation drift into the background of your mind. How long has it been since you looked at the stars, not just the little blimps of data that show up on your office screen. They're so much more fascinating when you look at them now, knowing that that one is 9 thousand light years away, and that one is almost two million miles wide. Well, fascinating to you at least; your sister and Papyrus seem to be enjoying the stories about constellations and the pretty lights each star gives off.

"I ALWAYS WANTED TO MEET THE STARS," Papyrus says, leaning back to get a better look at them.

"I'm sure the stars wanted to meet you too," Mel snickers playfully.

"OF COURSE THEY DID, WHO WOULDN'T?"

The nausea you felt reading all of those horrible things on the internet just seems to disappear. This couldn't be wrong, could it? You feel so at peace here, with your sister and Papyrus, just watching the stars.

You decide in that moment that you were done being a bystander. You are done walking the middle road, trying to stay out of "politics".

You are never going to allow good people like him to be put through a system that treats them like objects.

You are determined to make a difference.


	4. Doctor's Office

As things settle down, you begin to slip into what might mockingly be called a routine. Every morning you wake up as usual, then you and Papyrus make breakfast together. You do most of the cooking, though, as Papyrus either cheers you on from the sidelines or handles the more harder-to-burn-down-the-house with tasks. Melody wake ups about ten minute in and eats with you, then you two head out. Papyrus stays alone all day, and while you really wish this isn't the case, there isn't really a way to avoid it. You make sure that he knows that he has the whole house at his disposal, and while you had never asked him to, he often cleaned up while you were gone.

"I CANNOT STAND A MESS," He said when you approched him about it. "NOT THAT YOUR HOME IS MESSY! IT'S JUST SINCE I AM NOT DOING ANYTHING AT THE MOMENT, I DO NOT SEE WHY I SHOULDN'T KEEP THE HOUSE TIGHTY. NYA HA HA"

He is such a sweetheart.

It isn't until the thirteenth day (has it really already been thirteen days?) that you run into problems.

You and Papyrus are setting the table as per usual, when suddenly there is a knock on the door.

"I'll get that," You say, making your way over to the front of the house. You open it. It's your neighbor from across the street. She is handing out reelection fliers for city council. You politely take the flier and talk with her for a moment before Papyrus comes into view.

"HUMAN? WHO IS AT THE DOOR?"

"Just… um…" Oh Christ, what is her name?

"Mandy, from next door," She says, her face scrunching up distastefully. You can't tell if it's from seeing a monster or from seeing you own a monster; though you suspect the former you hope for the latter.

"AH, YES," He walks forward, taking her hand. "HELLO, I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS."

You hold your breath. Mandy's face morphs again into an insincere smile. "A pleasure," she bites out.

"Papyrus," You say carefully. "Why don't you go finish setting up the table?"

"OF COURSE!" He says, thankfully leaving.

You turn back to Mandy, who is leaning against the doorframe, looking smug.

"Well?" Mandy says, "I didn't know you had a monster living with you."

"It came as a surprise to me too," You mutter, trying to end the conversation as soon as possible.

"Well, I'm sure that you know that to have a monster in your residency means you have to have a permit; I'm sure you have all of the necessary paperwork filled out and submitted," She grins. Before you can say anything, she laughs and says, "I'm kidding, of course you don't. I would have seen it if you did. I work in the complex office, you know?" You can't tell if she's genuinely trying to be helpful, but you see your opportunity and you take it.

"I did not," You say flatly, trying to put on a friendly face. "In that case, could you point me in the direction of the paperwork I'd need?"

"Of course, sweetie," She says, a little too nicely. "I'm here to help. I'll bring them to you this afternoon." She turns around to leave, but stops just before you can close the door. "Oh, and one more thing - try to keep that thing inside or on a leash. It lowers the property value."

"I will, thank you," You close the door before muttering, "bitch."

After you get home from work you find the papers you need laying outside your front door. It's a stack as big as your thumb, and most of them are just repeating questions, as if they are trying to catch you in a lie somewhere. You fill them out to the best of your ability, occasionally looking to Papyrus' file for answers. It takes you the full night, but you finish. The next morning you wake up early to submit them to Mandy in the front office. You don't normally get up this early on your day off, but with Papyrus' early schedule you have been getting used to it.

"I see," she looks over the papers, "hmm… yes… yes… no… no that's not right."

"What is it?" You ask, exasperated and exhausted.

"Oh everything's filled out just fine," She says, putting the papers down. "It's just I don't see a physical on file."

"A physical?"

"Yes," Mandy says, folding her arms. "Your monster needs to be checked by a physician before it can stay here. You know, so we make sure it doesn't have any nasty deceases."

You nod, clenching and unclenching your fists under the table where she can't see. "I see, so I just need to take him to the doctors?"

Mandy laughs. "Not a people doctor, silly!" She's still laughing, like it's the funniest thing she's heard in years. "A monster doctor. There's one not too far from here, I can give you the address and phone number."

She scribbles on a sticky note and hands it to you. You call and make an appointment before pocketing it in your purse and heading back to the house. Papyrus has already gotten started on breakfast, and you are about to scold him for working in the kitchen without you when you see Melody standing next to him.

"NO, NO, LIKE THIS!" Papyrus is stirring a pot furiously.

"Okay!" Melody chirps enthusiastically. "I got this!" She stirs almost as intencly, flinging boiling water and noodles out of the pot.

"THAT'S THE SPIRIT!"

You lean against the door frame and admire this for a moment. Melody and Papyrus cooking together; it was always a spectacle. You listen in on their conversation for a moment, Melody talking about fashion and Papyrus chiming in with his own opinions every now and then; it was pretty tranquil.

You cough a little.

"OH, GOOD MORNING, HUMAN."

"Hey, where were you? We couldn't find you," Melody turns around with a strainer full of mushy pasta as she address you.

You walk into the kitchen. "I was… taking care of some business. Papyrus, can I talk to you for a second."

A flicker of concern crosses Papyrus' face, and you quickly reassure him it's nothing bad. Melody continues preparing breakfast and the two of you walk into the living room.

You think for a moment how to phrase this. "Last night I was filling out the forms that are needed to let you stay here," You explain, awkwardly, "and this morning I came across a problem. Before you can stay here, we need to take you to…" you don't want to say a vet , "a doctor."

"A VISIT TO THE DOCTORS?" Papyrus tilts his head. "THAT'S ALL?"

You bite your lip. "It's… not quite that simple." You take a deep breath, and continue. "It's going to be a human who specializes in monster medicine. And that means that in order for us to proceed, I'm going to have to take you outside andthat means that you're going to have to be…"

Oh god you can't say the next part.

You just can't.

"…On a leash."

There is a beat of silence, and you have to force yourself with all you might not to break eye contact in favor of the carpet. Papyrus is sitting there, quietly, seemingly processing what you just said. "OH," The crestfallen look on his face tells you he likes the idea even less than you do.

"I don't want to!" You quickly defend yourself. "For one, it's the law; and second people will be watching and they are going to be expecting you to be… to be… They want to see you be my slave, not my friend."

"I SEE…" He says, devoid of his usual light. Your heart sinks. There is another uncomfortable silence.

"Think of it… like acting," you say, trying and failing to smile. "You and I both know that's not true, right? You're not my slave." Papyrus nods. "So this is just… pretending . We'll go out there and let people see what they want to see, and we'll be in and out in no time."

"YES, YES!" Papyrus' natural light is returning. "HUMAN, YOU ARE A GENIUS! WE SHALL ACT THE PART, AND I, GREAT PAPYRUS, AM A NATURAL BORN ACTOR! IT IS THE PERFECT PLAN! NYA HA HA HA!"

Your smile turns genuine and you laugh along with him. This is probably going to end in disaster, but Papyrus just seems so excited now about a simple checkup that you can't help but feel it vicariously.

You decide to let the issue drop during breakfast and enjoy the soggy, overcooked-and-yet-somehow-undercooked spaghetti that your sister and friend has created. It tastes terrible, but they are so proud of it and their enthusiasm drives you forward to finish two whole plates. You used to love spaghetti for breakfast when you were little, and this – while not quite the flavor you remember – was wonderfully nostalgic.

"Whelp, I'm off," Melody says.

"Where are you going, you don't have school?" You call after her.

"I'm going to Francis' house," She replies.

"Who?" You ask.

"The new teacher I told you about?" Mel says. "They're having some of the class over for tea. She's really nice, if not a little quiet."

"Okay then. Text me if you need anything!"

"Will do!" She gives a mock salute.

With you and Papyrus alone, the silence is unfortunately back. He helps you clear the table and you sit him down to go over the rules of being outside the house. You take breaks in the middle of every other sentence to assure him that you are in no way condoning most of these actions, and are uncomfortable with them yourself. He seems to understand, and you just pray that he can keep some of his ego under check.

Finally, you can't stall any longer. It's about two hours to the appointment, but you don't want to be late. You go upstairs to fish out the chains Papyrus was brought to you in. You don't actually own a collar, as you were too embarrassed to ever buy one, and were hopeful that you could have Papyrus freed before it ever became an issue, so he'll have to have his hands restrained again.

Papyrus has changed out of his nice clothes back into the drab outfit he came to you in, as you asked him to. You awkwardly fumble with the handcuffs, trying to find a way to make the tiny bracelets less chafing. Papyrus assures you he has no skin, and is therefore immune to the discomfort, but you still feel it necessary to adjust them.

You walk out the door with Papyrus following close by thanks to the short, silver chain. You feel incredibly self-conscious and exposed; but you swallow it down because you know Papyrus must feel a thousand times worse. You don't even have to look back to know that he has his head held up high, though.

He's so cool.

You make it to the car and the drive is a silent hell just like before. Papyrus is sitting contently watching the scenery through the window. You realize how suffocating it must feel being trapped inside the house all day everyday – you can barely stand to be inside for a few hours like that.

You try to focus on something else, anything that could distract the disheartening thoughts that are swimming around in your head. You think back on to your work, trying to think through the latest data logically, trying to find the correlation between radiation decay and the dying star half way across the universe that has escaped your grasp for the past few weeks.

You try not to think about the problems that are beginning to become much more prevalent, such as Papyrus being kept up in the house. You didn't think it would take so long for you to free him, but if what John was saying was correct, then it could be almost a year before Papyrus was returned to the underground, and even then there was a good chance the request would be denied on some bullshit ground, and you feel responsible . Somehow, if you just understood the law better, if you take as many precautions as possible, if you just do everything right…

"HUMAN?"

Papyrus' voice breaks into your thoughts. You notice a light purple glow lighting the car. You look down and blush. Your soul is floating an inch away from your heart.

"Ah, sorry," You quickly hide it back into your body. "Sorry. That… doesn't happen often."

You had learned at a young age to keep your soul in your body, just like every other human. Beyond the taboo and intemacy of someone else seeing your soul, it was dangerous. Your heart could easily be broken if you kept it on your sleeve, after all.

"NONSENCE," Papyrus smiles, "THE YOUNGER HUMAN HAS ALREADY TOLD ME OF HUMAN'S PROTECTIVE NATURE OVER THEIR SOULS. HOWEVER, FOR MONSTERS, IT IS COMPLETELY NORMAL. SHE HAS EVEN SHOWN ME HERS!"

Something about the idea of Melody showing Papyrus her soul makes you feel… protective. You know with all your heart that Papyrus would never ever hurt her, but just the idea that she showed him her soul, that she was so carless as to let it outside herself with others in the room…

Well, it wouldn't be the first time she's done it.

Or the second.

Or the fifth.

Oh well, green souls were always the harest to contain.

You nod and listen to Papyrus ramble on about souls and the important role they play in monster society. It doesn't shock you that a culture so heavily dependent on magic would also be less reserved with their souls, but the fact that monsters take theirs out of their bodies constantly is still amazing to you. Aren't they afraid of being hurt?

You apparently said that last part out loud, because Papyrus replies, "OF COURSE NOT! TOUCHING SOMEONE ELSE'S SOULD WOULD BE WRONG. I COULDN'T IMAGINE ANYONE DOING THAT EVER!"

You smile, knowing that it probably happens more than Papyrus thinks with his innocent nature.

Eventually, the ride is over. You exit the car and lead Papyrus out of the passenger side. You swallow a lump in your throat and pray that he follows your instructions, though so far he's been on his best behavior, and you remind yourself to thank him later.

You check in at the office and sit down on a chair. Just as you had instructed him before, he does not sit on the chair next to you. Rather, he makes himself comfortable on the floor, just like the other monsters in the office. You take deep breaths and try to focus on the droning news on screen.

"The Monster Rights protests turned deadly today as one of the activists open fired on the police officers protecting the capital building. Two officers were injured, one killed. A suspect is in custody and their identity has yet to be given."

You look at the images and recognize the buildings as only being a few miles from your home. You didn't know there was going to be a protest today, and you suspect neither did the police. You look away from the screen at the others in the office. The humans are acting carefree, playing with tablets and reading, while the monsters sat at their feet, starring forward.

One of the monsters is a bird-like creature that you can tell is uncomfortable. She looks like she's overheating, but there is no water in sight. There's another in the corner, this one looking more like a little kid, though from the face you suspect it's older – or at least you hope. He is slumped against the wall, eyes closed. He's barely breathing. The last on in the room is a small frog looking monster. Sometime during your visit their human – a kid about ten or twelve years old – has pick them up and is holding them tightly. The frog croaks sickly, then gives gives in and nessles into the boy. It is reminiscent of a person giving affection to a sick pet, and that would make you smile if you didn't know that the frog was sentient.

Finally, finally you hear your last name called and you lead Papyrus into the next room. They have you take off the chains and they take his measurements and weight.

"Is this your first time here?" a nurse says, not looking up from her documents. You nod. "Okay, then I'm going to ask you a few questions before the doctor enters the room." She makes a few notes on her paper then looks up. "Has it had any violent tendencies or outbursts?"

You shake your head.

"Has it been eating properly?"

You nod.

"Any sexual outbursts?"

You blush but adamantly shake your head. You have to resist the urge to turn back to see Papyrus. God, you hope he isn't feeling as awkward as you are. There are a few more questions on behaviors and stability that you feel Papyrus would be able to answer better, but you continue to answer as truthfully as you can.

"Alright then," She scribbles a final note onto her clipboard. "We'll be with you in a moment."

When she leaves, you let out a shaky breath you didn't know you were holding. "That was… uh… how are you holding up, big guy?"

"NEVER BETTER!" Papyrus assures you (you try not to flinch at how loud he is) though you can tell his full heart isn't into it.

The doctor walks into the room, smiling brightly. He shakes your hand and greets you with the kind of familiarity you would get from an old friend. It warms your heart in such a cynical place.

"So what brings you here today?" He asks.

"Just a check-up," You answer politely.

"Okay then," He walks over to where Papyrus is sitting and looks him over. "A skeleton monster, hm? Haven't seen one of those since I took training; they're pretty rare, apparently."

Papyrus seems to swell with pride, and you would smile if you weren't so nervous.

"Does he have a name?" He asks, looking down at the papers for an answer before you can reply. "Ah, here it is… Pap-yurus?"

"IT'S PRONOUNCED, PAPYRUS," Papyrus tells the doctor. Your heart stands still and you can feel a cold sweat break out. The doctor raises an eyebrow, but seems to let it go rather quickly. You feel immeasurable relief.

The examination starts, and it mostly consists of the doctor prodding at him, taking a sample of the bone (Papyrus puts on a brave face, but you can tell it hurts him. The doctor assures you it is like taking blood, but you make a mental note to apologize to Papyrus anyways. ) and eventually checking his magical flow.

The doctor tells Papyrus to show him your soul, and you look away, to which he laughs. "It's just a monster soul, you know. You don't have to look away."

You feel your cheeks flush again, but you slowly look back over to Papyrus. In front of his chest is a glowing white heart. It looks like freshly laid snow. You notice his soul is upside down, and you can't help but stare. The doctor takes note of the heart, checking for cracks and fractures, taking hold of it at one point making you cringe.

As his soul is returned you think the examination is finally over, but the doctor asks Papyrus to give a small demonstration of his magic. He lifts his hands and a few bones lift from the ground, some white, then with prompting from the doctor, some blue. You're shocked, you had thought that his magic was solely connected to gravity, but it seems that there is more that he is capable of. It makes you wonder… you have never thought of Papyrus being particularly powerful. Then again, you remember back to when you first met him. The auctioneer had said he was a bodyguard, and Papyrus himself had told you about being in the royal guard… perhaps it was just his sweeter nature that made you think he was weak.

"I see," The doctor says, then looks to you. "Is this the extent of his magic?"

Some instinct in you tells you to lie - to nod your head and let it go, but logic wins out, and you don't see any reason for you to be dishonest, and you tell him about the gravity control. The doctor makes a note of this then turns to Papyrus.

"So he is proficient in blue magic, Is there anything else you can do?" He addresses the skeleton.

"OF COURSE, I AM A SKELETON OF MANY TALENTS," He says a little too loudly. Before anyone could make a comment, Papyrus makes another gesture and a skull like no animal you've ever seen appears. You're no doctor, but even you can tell that they are much much more powerful than the little bones he showed off before. You realise a little too late that your own jaw is hanging open and you quickly snap it shut.

The skull dissipates and Papyrus sits down again. The doctor makes a few notes, then turns to you. "Well, you've certainly found a special one."

You deffinatly agree, just for different reasons.

"I would like to make regular check-ups on this one, if that is alright with you," He tells you, shaking your hand. "his magic is quite powerful, and I want to monitor his EXP and LV very closely. If he were any more powerful than it already is, I wouldn't recommend keeping him."

You pray that Papyrus isn't beaming at being called powerful, but you know damn well he is.

"I understand," You tell him, reattaching the leash to Papyrus' wrists. "Thank you, doctor."

"Call me if you need anything," He smiles and walks you back to the waiting room.

You bring Papyrus back to the car and take off the cuffs as he enters the passenger side. The moment you pull off, you can't help but smile and giggle a little. You made it! It took all of your determination and years of feigning detachment, but you did it . Papyrus looks relieved too.

"You did really well back there," You tell him. "I couldn't have sat through that, myself."

Papyrus looks ecstatic.

"NYA HA HA HA, OF COURSE! I TOLD YOU THERE WAS NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT. I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM AN ACTOR EXTRAORDINAIRE."

"Damn straight," You agree. You aren't quite ready to go home yet, and so you turn off at the next exit.

"HUMAN? HAVE YOU BECOME LOST? THIS IS NOT THE WAY TO YOUR HOME."

You smile. "It's a human tradition to go out for a treat after a doctor's appointment."

Papyrus can barely contain his glee.

"Anything in particular you want?" You ask, and you can't help but be reminded of when you used to take Melody out to eat like this, back when she was much younger and you still had to drive her places.

"HMM, I DON'T PARTICULARLY LIKE GREASE," That rules out almost half of the places in town. You try to think of the places you used to take Melody, and you pick your favorite to suggest.

"Why don't we go for ice cream then?" You suggest.

"ICE CREAM? IS THAT ANYTHING LIKE NICECREAM?"

You shrug and make your way to the closest parlor. You tell Papyrus to stay in the car after asking him what kind of ice cream he wanted (and explaining that there was no spaghetti flavor.)

Inside you order two ice creams. The girl behind the counter smiles and fills your order. You go to fish out your credit card from your purse when you notice your phone is buzzing.

It's John. You mouth sorry to the teenager at the counter as you try to one-handly pay for the ice cream and take the tray.

"Hey, John," You say quickly. "What's up?"

"It's good to hear from you, I've been trying to reach you for the past twenty minutes."

"Sorry, I had my phone on silent," You explain. "What's up?"

"I found out something important," John says. He sounds excited. Calling over and over? Getting excited? That's... worth your attention. "Okay, so you said that the skeleton has a brother, right?"

"Yeah…" You say cautiously.

"Well, I think I may have found him."


	5. Searching For Sans

It was a month after Papyrus left that Sans realized he wasn't coming back. When he came home that day from working his sentry station and found the house empty, only thing left of his brother a note explaining where he had gone, his first instinct was to go after him and stop him from doing something stupid. He would follow his brother over across the border if need be, but it was too late. The underground was regularly patrolled by humans now, making sure that the monsters stay underground. It took several humans and all his restraint to keep Sans from crossing that border.

"you have to let me go through!" He yelled, kicking as two of the human guards hauled him back.

"Shut up, monster!" They threw him to the ground, and Sans should have counted himself that none of them hit him, with only one blow being enough to kill him. Sans knew he could take them - he was sure that their love was high enough to invoke karmic retribution, but the consequences of harming a human was death, and he couldn't help Papyrus if he was dead.

He was about to charge them again, when someone stepped in the way.

"That's enough!" Undyne snapped, arms crossed. The humans looked hostile, however they let her stand her ground. She was still leader of the Royal Guard, and the title came with at least some respect, even from the humans. She swiftly turned to Sans. "What the hell are you doing?"

"papyrus crossed over to the surface," Sans whispered. Undyne's eyes grew wide, and for a moment, Sans saw her vulnerability. She hadn't quite been the same since they lost Alphys on the surface, but Papyrus always seemed to bring out a little of her old spirit, even if it was a bit lacking in her usual ferocity. Now that was gone too.

She quickly recovered, though, and turned back to the humans. "There's no need for this. Sans is a pretty harmless monster, I'll take him home."

"You'd better!" One of them spat. "And teach that thing some manners."

They sneered and walked off, leaving the two acquaintances standing in the ruins. Undyne's fighting face melted away to a more solemn look. It was… tired, if Sans could put a word to it - so different from the spit-fire fighter from years ago. She had aged from the young head of the royal guard she once was, her old fury and ardor giving way to the pains of loss and war. She was hardly the same person, and Sans could see it in her eyes.

"..."

"...let's go to my house. i know a shortcut."

Undyne followed Sans into his home and sat herself on the couch. Her posture was a lot more rigid than usual, though still slightly slumped. She folded her hands in her lap and stared at the T.V. for a while, despite it not being on. After an eternity she screamed and put her head in her hands.

"THAT IDIOT!" She cried. "THAT ABSOLUTE MORON! WHAT WAS HE THINKING!?"

Sans had never, ever seen Undyne like this. He didn't even know she could get like this. He was sure he saw tears, but if they were there, Undyne quickly wiped them away. Sans sat next to her and leaned back.

"he went looking for frisk and alphys, and all the other monsters that we lost," He told her.

"NGGHAA!" Undyne screamed again. She shot up and pointed at Sans accusingly. "And you were just going to follow him? You'd get yourself killed out there!"

Sans shrugged.

Undyne cooled off and looked down again, despondent. There was another long, deafening silence. "They've taken everything from us, haven't they?"

She sat back down and put her head in her hands. They sat there for a while like that. Sans didn't mind. He liked doing nothing - waiting for the problem to resolve itself. If he waited, maybe Papyrus would come through the door, just fine. Maybe he didn't even leave the underground at all; his note didn't specifically say he was going to the surface. Yeah, he just had to believe that… and maybe everything will be alright after all.

Sans was almost nodding off when Undyne spoke again.

"I'm going."

That caught Sans' attention rather fast.

"what?"

"I said I'm going," Undyne said, making her way to the door.

"didn't you just say it was too dangerous?" Sans asked, following her with his eyes.

"Too dangerous for you," She told him. "Papyrus never told me how much, but he did let me know you have low HP and low attack stats. I on the other hand…"

"undyne, think about this," Sans said, sitting up, "you're needed down here waaay more than i am. let's be honest, if i died, no one would be left to miss me. you, on the other hand, are head of the royal guard-"

"- I'm all that's left of the Royal Guard!" Undyne screamed. "The humans took everybody else away!"

"you're their hero, undyne," Sans reminded her. "without you, the underground would be devoid of hope."

"They always have Mettaton," Undyne muttered. She sighed and turned to face Sans. "Look, I'm going. I know I'm being selfish, and I know I'm probably not coming back, but I can't just stand here and do nothing while the humans take away everyone I care about!" She turned one last time and opened the door. "Don't try and stop me."

Sans shrugged. "wasn't gonna. be a good gill, okay?"

Undyne snorted, a ghost of a smile appearing on her lips before she slipped out of the house and into the snow.

That was the last anyone underground had seen of Undyne.

That was three month ago.

Sans didn't do much during that time. He followed a strict routine of getting up, going to Grillby, coming home, and sleeping. He either quit or was fired from most of his jobs, and it looked like for a long time that the humans had won. Without Undyne, the underground lost it's will to go on. The monsters were broken.

And Sans was no exception. The dreary mood, the empty house - it was all too reminiscent of those times. It was almost exactly the same, actually, only this time Sans couldn't wait for the kid to get board and reset, bringing everyone back. Sans had found in the past that holding on to false hope was equivalent to drinking poison - a slow, self-inflicted pain - so he just stopped hoping all together. He gave up and left the world to others who might be more determined than him to change it.

Until one day Sans walked into Papyrus' room.

He wasn't sure what compelled him to do so. Maybe it was the fact that he passed it every time he went to his room (though that wasn't much considering that he spent most of his time on the couch now) or maybe he just wanted to feel close to Papyrus again. He brushed his hand over the action figures, looked through the books, the bed - it was all as he had left it. It was like Papyrus had never left. Like he wasn't gone.

And that's when it really, really hit him.

His brother was gone, but not yet dead. Undyne's search had been unsuccessful, and she was either captured or dead, meaning that there was no one left out there looking for Papyrus. Sans felt mad at himself. He had been acting like his brother was dead when he was probably alive and suffering on the surface. Sans couldn't, wouldn't give up this time. Not when his little brother needed him.

And it was on the twelfth day after the third month that Sans crossed the border.

"HMM," Papyrus looks over the pictures thoroughly. "YES, THAT IS MY BROTHER!"

You feel your heart soar and drop at the same time.

So it was true.

"What do you mean, you found his brother?" You had asked after that moment of shock on the phone.

"I mean, I was researching skeleton monsters and I happened to come across an article about this one," John told you. "He's a rogue, and he matches the description perfectly. I'll send you the pictures."

"A rogue?" You said, momentarily stunned.

John says your name sadly, and you know it's bad news. "He's number two on the top ten most wanted monsters list."

"Are you sure, Pap?" You ask him. "Because it's important that you are one hundred percent sure."

"I WOULD KNOW THAT LAZYBONES ANYWHERE," Papyrus assures you, voice devoid of his usual luster.

You two are sitting at the dining room table. You showed him the pictures as soon as you came home from town, giving him a slightly edited story of how you got them. You had debated telling him at all, but in the end you decided he had the right to know. You left out the parts about your plans for emancipation and his brother being a criminal. Papyrus was ecstatic at first, but now he was just starring at the blurry security camera picture as if he wished it weren't there.

This… would complicate things. A lot. For one, there is almost no chance of Papyrus being freed if the judge found out about his kinship to Sans, and for two, from what Papyrus has told you, he and his brother live alone together. Even if you get him emancipated, you would be sending him home to an empty house. Which brings up the next question of is emancipating Papyrus a good idea? Would he even want to go back to the underground, especially if his brother isn't there?

You need time to think.

A lot of time.

"Papyrus," you say, trying to keep your voice from betraying your darker thoughts. "Why don't you get dinner started? I have a pizza in the freezer, you just have to follow the instructions on the box."

Papyrus is still looking at the photos longingly, and your feel your heart squeeze. He nods and puts on his most enthusiastic face. "YES… YES I WILL… DO THAT. NYA HA HA Ha ha…"

Huh, he almost always objects to following the direction on the box…

You guess he has a lot on his mind too. Even if he doesn't know how much trouble his brother is in, he at least knows that he is one the surface now, and that alone would spell trouble for a weak monster.

Though you have to question just how weak Sans is go get to be number two on the top ten most wanted…

You quickly pull up your laptop and search the name John told you they were calling Sans, "The Blaster."

To your relief, there haven't been any deaths attributed to him, but several robberies, carjackings and assaults. You look at his place on the most wanted list; next to his blurry picture was the number one spot: a fish-lady who seems vaguely familiar. You hover over the name, Undyne. It sounds familiar too. You push it to the back of your mind.

You jump when the front door opens, revealing your sister. She looks… bad. Her pants are muddy and ripped, and she's missing the jacket she left the house in. Not to mention the sunglasses that were poorly hiding a black eye. She stepped forward with a slight limp.

"Oh my god!" You rush to Melody, calling for Papyrus to get the first aid kit.

""m find," She says through a busted lip. "Really."

"You are most certainly not fine!" You say, pulling the sunglasses off her face. There was makeup over her eye; someone had tried to hide her shiner. You feel rage burning in your throat.

"HUMANS? IS EVERYTHING ALR-" Papyrus only gets three feet into the room before be panics. "HUMAN! ARE YOU ALRIGHT? HAVE YOU BEEN INJURED!?"

"I'm fine, Papyrus," Melody slurs. "I really am. Just… had a rough walk home. Got mugged."

She's lying. And that scares you.

"Papyrus, do you have the first aid kit?" you ask as calmly as you can. The two of you walk Melody to the couch and get an ice pack to her eye. You work on bandaging her ankle while Papyrus probes her with questions on her assault.

"WHAT DID THE DASTARDLY FIENDS LOOK LIKE?"

"I didn't get a good look at them," Melody keeps her eyes down.

"DID YOU SEE WHERE THEY RAN OFF TO?"

"Not really," She sounds guiltier and guiltier.

"DID THEY STEAL ANYTHING?" He quickly asks.

Melody opens her mouth to respond, then quickly shuts it and sniffs. "Is something burning?"

You are about to call her out on trying to deflect the questions when you smell it too.

"OH, THAT WOULD BE DINNER," Papyrus answers.

You close your eyes in frustration. "Why don't you go set things up there, and we'll be in a minute."

Papyrus hurries off and you are left alone with your sister.

"So what really happened?" You ask.

"I told you, some assholes mugged me," She says.

"And then you had just enough time to put on makeup to try and hide that eye," You say dryly. "Tell me the truth, Mel. I won't be mad."

"Look, you can believe me or not," Melody says, standing up quickly and limping to the stairs. "Either way I'm going to bed. I've had a long day." It's five o' clock. She doesn't normally go to bed until one. You sigh and let her go. She'll tell you when she's ready.

You go to meet Papyrus in the kitchen. "Hey, looks like it's just going to be the two of us tonight."

Papyrus looks a little glum, but sets the table anyways. You eat the burnt pizza in silence. Your head is swimming. Too much has happened today and the silence is deafening. You wish Melody hadn't slunk off to her room like that, you could use the up beat conversations that he has with Papyrus.

You can tell you're not the only one missing it. Papyrus looks down at his plate, normal appetite diminished to picking at the crust.

"What's on your mind?" You finally ask, unable to bear the silence any longer.

"MY BROTHER IS LOOKING FOR ME," He says. "SANS IS… NOT VERY STRONG. I AM AFRAID FOR HIM."

"He's made it this long," You say, trying to sound optimistic. "He's got to have something going for him."

Papyrus smiles a little. "YEAH…"

While Papyrus may have his doubts about his brother's strengths, you don't. You excuse yourself from the table and step out onto the back porch. You fumble with your cell phone for a minute before finding the number you are looking for.

It rings three times.

"Hello?"

"John," You say. "I need you to find Sans for me."

"...What?" He says, and you know you would pay any amount of money just to see his face right now.

"I said I need you to-"

"I heard you, I just…" John stops for a moment. "Hold on one sec." You hear a click. "I normally record my calls, but right now you're talking about something I don't want any record of."

"I understand," You say. "Can you do it?"

You hear a deep sigh. "It's not a matter of if I can, it's a matter of… for God's sake -you're talking about harboring and assisting a criminal!"

"I know," You tell him. "And I don't care. I want a phone number, John. A cell phone, hotel phone - hell, I'll take a phone booth in his vicinity. I just need to talk to him."

You have to let Sans know Papyrus is okay. You know what it is to be a big sibling, to want to do everything in your power to make sure that that little person in your life is safe and sound. You know he won't go back to the underground until he finds Papyrus and you know he's endangering himself and everyone around him by doing that. You never want this to slip into the illegal, you never thought it would have to – but now it did. It definitely did.

John seems to sense your determination. He says your name, exasperated. "I know an investigator who can help. He's pretty good – but remember what I said before."

"Before?" You ask.

"About how far you are willing to take this?" He prompts. "You have a good life right now. You have a job you love, a steady income, a house, and your sister is… well, you certainly have the money to put her through a school of her choice." You frown. "What I'm saying is that you're risking an awful lot, here."

"I know." There's a pause and then you say, "I'm sorry for bringing you so deep into this."

"Don't be, I'm going to deny ever knowing anything about this if it all blows up," John says, half-joking. "Heh, you keep this shit up and you'll have to find yourself a new lawyer. This is why they say never make friends with clients."

"You really are the best, John," You tell him.

"I know it," He says.

You hang up and frown. This is all so much more complicated than you had originally intended for it to be… hell, you didn't even come into this with any good intentions - or any intentions at all!. But you feel as though you're in the right place. You're doing the right thing for once in your life, and you know that whatever the consequences are, you can handle it.

John was right back then. This isn't the end of this.

Not by a long shot.

Sans is sitting in the back alley of a crowded city. He has his hood pulled tight over his head, and a scarf wrapped around most of his face. To most, he would look like just another homeless bum, but if you got close enough, you would see the glowing blue eye.

His eyelids keep drooping, threats of sleep closing in on him. He needs to rest, but he wants to stay alert. He knows he is being paranoid – he had scoped this place out specifically because of the lack of law activity. Sans knows he needs to sleep; he can't save anybody crumbling to dust from sleep deprivation.

He doesn't know how long he has been at this – months, definitely, maybe a year. All he knows is that in that time he has gone around in circles chasing his brother. Following leads to dead ends to abandoned homes. It shouldn't be this hard to find his brother, considering that most of the time anyone who has met the skeleton remembers him… but it seems that no owner held on to him for too long a time.

Sans grits his teeth hard.

Knowing that his brother is out there, probably suffering under some cruel human's tyranny;

He can't afford not to care anymore.


	6. Break In

You went back to work weeks ago, but even so you are still facing the rumors and spitefulness. To make matters worse, Alphys won't say more than two words to you, and even then only when she absolutely has to. You don't blame her, and part of you wants to explain yourself to her, but you know you can't do that. If you tell Alphys about your plans for Papyrus, it could end up making her feel even worse. The fact that he may get to go home and she won't bothers you too, but there is nothing you can do to improve her situation. The best you can do now is get Papyrus home.

Still, other than that, you've had a good week. Your department has hit a major breakthrough in their analysis. If your colleges are correct, the dying star is about to go supernova, and you and the whole office are waiting with baited breath. All of the satellites are focused on that one point, ready to take the measurements when it does.

You lean back in your chair and look up at the ceiling. Things seem to be taking an upturn in your life. John says that as long as they don't mention it, the judge probably won't know about Sans' relation to Papyrus; and Melody… well, she still won't tell you what happened that day, but she's going back to her normal routine. She is even spending extra hours studying with that teacher she likes so much.

You decide that with all the product shit you've done today, you've earned a break. You let your eyes adjust to the real world, then you get up and stretch. There's a water cooler not too far from your office, and it was about that time of day where your co-workers would not bother you with pointless conversation and gossip.

You grab a cup and fill it. You're about to take a walk outside when you see something out of the corner of your vision. You don't think too much of it until you hear a loud crash. You put the cup of water down and slowly make your way down the hall, thinking that maybe it was just an intern that dropped some piece of equipment.

When you turn the corner you almost run face first into a fleeing man. You stop just in time, though, and he bends over to catch his breath. You notice sweat running down his face.

"Woah, Dave," you quickly say, laughing a little in your nervousness, "Where's the fire?"

He's still panting but he looks up and you can see in his eye that this was no joke.

"A - a monster," he gasps out. "A monster... Just attacks the... the observation room."

Your eyes widen and you take off towards the room, pulling the fire alarm on the way. You don't know why you are running towards the danger- the logical part of your brain telling you that you should get out and call the police - but you just feel that you are the best person for the situation.

Ah, who the hell are you kidding? You're probably about to die.

When you make it to the room, you see the wreck this monster has made of your office. Half of the computers were smashed to bits, and two of the in-house signal amplifiers were destroyed. It was actually quick sickening when you think of all the hours of research lost, and the damage that would need to be repaired, but that was a thought for another time. There were two people you could see in the room; an intern who looked about ready to piss his pant, and an older scientist hiding herself under a desk. You look around the room quickly, searching for any sign of scales or fur or claws - and damn do you wish that you had asked what the monster looked like. Just as you were about to ask the two hostages, you hear something whoosh by your head.

A blue spear was embedded two feet from your face.

"STAY WHERE YOU ARE, HUMAN!"

You quickly put your hands up in a placating gesture.

The monster that has attacked your office and colleagues is standing in the opposite corner. Her voice is obviously female and seems vaguely familiar. She is currently holding one of your superiors by the neck threateningly.

"NOW, I'M GONNA ASK YOU ONE MORE TIME, HUMAN," she addresses the man pinned to the wall. "WHERE IS SHE?"

He tries to gurgle out a response, but with the giant fish lady crushing his windpipe, he can hardly make coherent sounds. She is menacing, tall, and looks like a warrior from one of those old gladiator movies, and she just looks so damn familiar.

You suddenly remember.

Undyne.

Former head of the royal guard.

Current number one on the Monster Most Wanted List.

Papyrus' old friend.

Your heart skips a beat. What is she doing here? Why would she attack some random astrophysicists' office?

She throws your superior to the floor, and you pray to god the still form on the ground was still alive; partly because you like him and partly because you don't want Undyne to face anymore consequences than she already is. Going home to Papyrus just to tell him that his best friend was captured on your watch just seems like too much right now.

Undyne punches a wall, leaving a sizable dent. You gulp. She's strong - stronger than any monster you've ever seen before. She turns her attention to you. If looks could kill, you'd be dead. Your heart stops and somewhere in your mind you think - this is it. I'm going to die.

For a moment, there is only the cacophonous sound of the fire alarm.

"YOU!" Undyne starts to make her way towards you. You instinctively take a step back, and she materializes a spear threateningly.

"Easy," you lower your hands, trying to give off a calming aura. "You don't want to do this."

"You don't know what I want!" She yells, halting her approach. She raises the spear as if to throw, and you flinch.

"You're just going to make things worse on yourself," you tell her quickly.

Undyne snarls. "I don't care."

"Whatever you're trying to do here isn't going to be helped by getting yourself into this much trouble," you say, trying your best to reason with her, "Please, I want to help you." She drops her spear, and for a moment you think you've won - until you see the gleam in her eye and she suddenly rushes you, slamming you against the door.

"Do you know what it's like, human, to have everyone you ever loved, everyone who ever loved you, taken away?" She presses her hand against your neck. "I can assure you, I don't need help from your kind ."

You're sputtering; you can't breathe! Your hand reaches up to Undyne's outstretched arm almost on its own, trying to alleviate the pressure. Panic sets in and you claw desperately, trying to escape her deadly grasp. You close your eyes and with what little air you can manage to choke out, "Undyne, please."

She drops you instantly.

"HOW DO YOU KNOW MY NAME!?" She spits out.

You're too busy gasping for breath to answer.

Undyne stands there for a moment, dazed and obviously weary, and while she's not looking the two other hostages make a dash for the door on the other side of the room. Undyne swears under her breath and looks ready to charge them, but you grab her ankle.

"Let them go," you plead. "Let them go, please!"

Undyne looks indignant, then sympathetic. She grabs you by the collar of your shirt and stands you up; a feat for you on your wobbly legs. She's looking at you curiously, and you take your opportunity.

You're terrified. This woman can kill you without trying, this woman wants to kill you, but despite that, through the fear and the pain, you find pity for her. She doesn't seem like the type of person who would hurt anyone unless pushed to her limit. She is desperate, and you can't blame her. You don't know if you can, but you want to reach her. You want her to be happy too, despite all of the horrible things happening.

"I don't want to fight you," you tell her, holding your neck. Undyne narrows her eyes. Talking hurts, but you go on anyways. "Please, Undyne, I want to help," you've never been more sincere in your life. "You may not believe me, but I do understand."

She scrutinizes you carefully, before sighing, defeated and tired. "You couldn't possibly understand."

You feel the same pity and pain for her you do for Papyrus. You want nothing more than to tell her about him; to tell her that he's safe and that she doesn't need to worry. However, how she'll react to that is uncertain, and as volatile as she is, you don't want to risk it.

"I'm sorry," you say, looking down. The adrenaline from the situation is wearing off, and you are suddenly very tired. You want nothing more than to curl up at home and cry to yourself. This whole situation is just so frustrating! You huff a small, dead laugh, "I wish I could do something, but it seems I can't help anybody." You suddenly feel like sobbing. "I can't help you, I can't help him, I can't help Alphys-"

Undyne's eyes widen.

"You know Alphys?" She cries, a new kind of desperation forming on her face. She grabs your shoulders and for a second you think she's going to attack you again, but she just stands there, looking into your eyes with the rawest form of pleading and vulnerability. "Is she alright!? You have to tell me where she is! Human, please I-"

She's cut short by the light popping sound. She looks down at her thigh where a yellow-feathered dart has embedded itself. She quickly yanks it out, stumbles, then collapses on the floor.

You look around and see a police officer standing in the door opposite you. She is lowering a gun, and she speaks into her communicator.

"Target is down. Repeat, Target has been neutralized. Requesting full team for extraction and containment."

That's the last thing you heard before the events catch up to you and you fall to the ground, unconscious.

You can hear Melody coming before you can see her.

"Let me through let me through! My sister's in there let me go I have to find her hey don't you dare ."

"Melody!" You call. "I'm over here."

You're sitting on the front steps to your office, blanket over your shoulders and a cup of water in hand. The police insisted on giving those to you, even though you assured them you felt fine.

"Oh my god!" Melody rushes to you and envelopes you in a hug. "Oh my god! I was at Francis' house and we saw on the news that your building had been attacked and there was a sever injury and I thought... I thought..."

You hug her back. "I'm fine, Mel. Really."

The two of you sit there for a moment like that, enveloped in the embrace. He hugs are always the best. Eventually, Melody steps back and takes a look at you through teary eyes. "Heh, you look like one of those crime show victims."

"I kind of am," you laugh.

Melody takes a seat next to you and hugs her knees. You look forward. There are police, fire department and news vehicles everywhere. Several of your coworkers are giving interviews with reporters, even though you know that several of them weren't even in the building. You tuck your head into your arms, feeling an odd mixture of relief, anger and despair.

You just halted Alphys' rescue. You stopped someone from rescuing her. You want to cry. How could you be so stupid? It was obvious that was what Undyne was here for, and yet you were thinking more about your research than you did about your friend. And now Alphys was stuck here and her rescuer is being hauled away to god knows where. Not to mention the fact that you almost died. Your neck still hurts and will probably be bruised for days.

Melody seems to sense your mood. "You wanna talk about it?"

You shake your head.

"Okay," she says, letting the issue drop. There's a beat of silence. "I told Papyrus that there was trouble at work - though I didn't exactly say how much. He'll probably have dinner waiting for us at home."

You laugh a little.

Papyrus is cooking; you don't like it, but it makes him happy.

Papyrus is happy.

That's right, you did save someone; maybe not everyone, but, at the very least, you saved someone.

Your mood takes a slight upturn.

"Come on," Melody says, "Let's go home."

The two of you dodge reporters and cameras as you make your way through the crowd, stopping only when you thought you saw Undyne being loaded into a van. You sister pulls you along, though, and you make it to the car.

You offer to drive, but your sister won't let you.

"You're in shock," She says. "I wouldn't let you walk on your own, much less drive."

You let her have her way. You didn't want to drive anyways.

Melody's driving is just as erratic as always, and you remind yourself to continue with her lessons as soon as you find the time. The good thing, though, is that as fast as she's driving, you make it home in record time. She parks in front and walks you to the front door as if you were about to topple over and never get up.

Once as you're inside, away from all of the people who might judge you, you do something you don't normally do.

You cry.

You slump down in the nearest chair, bury your face in your hands and sob like you were nine years old. Everything that happened today just kind of catches up to you. All your anger, all your fear, all your guilt...

Melody kneels next to you and pets your back. Even crying hurts, but you just can't stop.

"HUMANS, YOU HAVE ARRIVED AND -"

Oh, right, Papyrus is here.

Crap.

You don't want him to see you cry, so you quickly wipe your face and look up. He's looking at you with a concerned face that makes your hiccups more erratic.

"H-hey, Pap," You say lightly. "Wh- wha'd you m-make for din-"

Papyrus cuts you off with a hug.

You feel your chest heave. After everything you've done - after everything that's happened in the past month, you're so tired and sick and scared it just overwhelms you. You let go and cry as you are surrounded by the people you care about.

When you finally calm down, Papyrus and Melody set up dinner in front of the T.V and pick out the most lighthearted animated movie they can find. The three of you eat together; it seems Papyrus tried to fry a salad. It's not that bad. Melody falls asleep halfway through and Papyrus soon after. You carefully move your sister off your lap and clear the table. After washing the dishes and cleaning off the table, you go up to your room and lay down.

You stare at the ceiling more than you sleep, thinking of what just happened. Papyrus'- and apparently Alphys' - friend was either in prison or dead, and you helped the police do it. You can't get that despite look in Undyne's eyes out of your mind. Once again, you reverse the situation in your head, and though you don't have many friends, you understand the pain of loss enough to know her pain. You find yourself crying again, and in the privacy of your room, you let your tears fall silently.

Your neck still hurts - reminding you of how you were almost choked to death by a monster. That alone makes you want to cry more, so you try not to think about it.

The best thing you can do now is do your best by Papyrus and Alphys. For Undyne. For Sans. For all the monsters who had lost their loved ones to this cruel world. Your work has already issued a statement telling all general employees to stay out for a week for damage repair and recovery, but when you go back you vow to speak with Alphys. You're going to tell her everything - and then you're going to talk to your manager about keeping her at your house. Currently, she stays in her own little room (though it's more of a cell) in the basement floor, but you know that can't be good for her health. Besides, when Papyrus is finally freed and leaves the house will feel so empty.

You don't sleep easily, but you rest well with the idea that maybe you can atone for your sins.

The next day you get a phone call from the police.

"We would like to talk to you for a moment if you're feeling up to it," the officer says over the phone. You agree to meet up at noon and you make your way to the station. You wear a scarf to hid the brusing. You suppose you are going to have to get used to that for the next few weeks. An officer is there to greet you. He motions you into a white room and you sit on an uncomfortable plastic chair. He takes out a recorder and clicks it to life, placing it on the table between you two, then folds his hands on his lap and looks at you.

"We would like to know what happened," he tells you, getting straight to the point. "The others have given their side of the story, and they all say it was you who stopped Undyne."

You nod slightly, guilt flooding your core again. You push it down and continue.

"I understand this might be difficult to talk about so soon after it happened, but we would like a full report of the events that took place here as soon as possible."

"I understand," you say. "What would you like to know?"

"Well, let's start from the beginning."

You tell him your story, from the water cooler to trying to talk down Undyne in the observation room. The officer nods along, occasionally asking questions. He stops you when you tell him how you disarmed Undyne by soothing her.

"I see," he says, "so you knew of Undyne prior to this."

"Yes, I'd seen her on the most wanted," you tell him, hoping he'll buy the simplified version of the truth. To your relief, he simply nods.

"Are you aware that it was your office monster's ex-lover?"

No. You were definitely not aware of that. The guilt spreads from your core to the rest of your body until you can practically taste it.

"No, I did not know that," you answer.

"I see," he says, adjusting his sitting position. "Your co-workers also tell me that you and Alphys are... good friends."

"We are," you reply.

"And one of the hostages tells me that when you were taking the monster down, you said something along the lines of 'I wanna help.'"

Your heart stops. Did you say that? It seems so long ago now. You didn't miss the slight accusation in his tone, and you scramble to explain.

"I was trying to stop her from killing us," you say truthfully. "Are you accusing me of something?"

"No, I'm just trying to get the facts," the officer says. "Continue with the story."

You finish off the story without thinking too much. There's no reason to lie about anything but her relationship with Papyrus, and even then he doesn't know to ask about it. When you are finished, he nods.

"One more thing," The officer says as you are ready to leave. "Your co-worker tell me you bought a monster recently."

You feel a little nervous, but you nod anyways, "Yes, I did."

"Heh, how's that working out for you?" He asks.

"He's very good," You tell him, trying to keep your answers vague.

"I've noticed that you keep calling the monsters 'he' and 'she' and 'they'," The officer says, leaning forward. "You're a real monster lover, aren't you?"

You feel a bead of sweat breaking out on the back of your neck, and suddenly, the room feels too hot and too small.

"I suppose you could say that," You nod.

"Odd for a person like you to be getting slaves, don't you think?"

You take a deep breath before you can stop yourself. "I get that a lot."

To your surprise, the officer laughs. "Well, an attitude like that may have saved your coworks lives, so I can't judge." He stands up and shakes your hand. "It was nice meeting with you."

"You as well," you say, letting out a sigh of relief. You are escorted out of the office and back to the street. You make your way to a park bench and sit for a moment. That was way more stressful than you had thought it would be. With all the pity and empathy you felt for Undyne, you couldn't honestly say that that day wasn't genuinely terrifying, and going over it with the police just made all of that fear come back twice as hard. Not to mention those odd questions at the end. You hope you didn't say anything wrong; it would be devastating for this to interfear with Papyrus' emancipation.

Your phone rings and you check it. John. You don't really want to talk to him right now, but the thought that it might be important makes you open your phone anyways.

"Are you alright!? I heard what happened on the news!"

You smile. Of course. He was your friend first, and if you had heard that his office had been attacked you'd call too.

"Yeah, I'm fine," You tell him. "Everythings fine."

There's a long breath on the other end of the phone. "Oh my god… you are… you are something else, you know that?" He laughs. "Everyone on the news is talking about you."

They are?

"At least," he says. "I assume it was you who talked Undyne down."

You smile. "That was me, yeah."

There's a long awkward laugh on the other end. "You are insane, you know that?"

You sigh, "John, I appreciate your concern, but I'm not in the mood to talk about it right now."

"Oh, okay," He says, his voice turning a little more serious. "But that's not all I called to talk to you about."

"It's not?" You ask, curiously.

"It's about Papyrus' paperwork," John says. "It seems like they had him pegged as a candidate for the Monster Militia."

Really? Papyrus? The Monster Militia is a group of monsters who have been deemed the best for fighting and are typically kept as military "hunting dogs". Sure, the physical revealed that he was strong but he certainly wasn't a military type. That almost makes you laugh if it wasn't so terrifying.

"I see," you say. "And what does that have to do with now?"

"Well," John starts. "If we try to emancipate him by normal procedures, he will just be turned over to the military."

Oh. That's not good.

"So what can we do?" You ask. "I assume you didn't just call to tell me to give up."

He laughs. "Naw, I know better than to do that," You hear him sift through papers. "You see, what we need to do now is prove that Papyrus absolutely cannot join the militia, which is going to be tricky with his background."

Background? Oh right - the Royal Gaurd. Shit.

"How are we going to go about that," You ask.

"I'm working on it, but in the end, there isn't really a way to continue without having someone from the government come over and interview both of you," He tells you. "Don't worry, though, that should be awhile down the line. But be ready for that."

"I will. Thank you so much, John," You say, genuinely grateful. None of this would be possible without him.

"Don't mention it," He says.

You think of something.

"Oh, yeah, wait!" You quickly add in. "Before you hang up, how's the… um… ya know? The Search ?"

"Hmm?" Joh sounds genuinely confused for a moment, then he remembers. "Oh, yeah. That. I hired a guy. We should have results in about two to three weeks he says."

Two to three weeks? That's a lot shorter than you were expecting, but it was important. The sooner you find Sans and convince him to go back underground, the better your chances are for getting Papyrus freed.

"Great! See ya," You shut your phone and lean back. You wonder for a little while just what kind of person Sans was. Papyrus was fond of him - though what person wasn't fond of their sibling, give or take a few extreme exceptions. Papyrus had mentioned that Sans was lazy, and a bit of a prankster, but from what you've heard about him from your research he was a cold hearted bastard. You wonder if he'll be upset at you for buying his brother, or grateful that you took him in. Maybe he'll even be friendly when he finds out what good friends you guys now are.

Not that it matters much. One phone call was all you ever really plan to interact with the guy. Just a quick phone call telling him what was happening and convincing him to go home.

You smile.

No one said it was going to be easy, but things were definitely going to get better from here.

Someone's been following him.

He knows it.

He can feel their eyes on his back.

The newest tip on his brother's whereabouts has Sans heading into a more suburban area. He was able to hitchhike his way to a forest that should lead him straight to the village that houses his brother. He hopes. The information was from an auctioneer who kept some exceptional records of his sales. From pilfering those a couple of days ago, he found out that his brother was sold not three months ago to an older man who was dumb enough to give his address to the auction house.

Sans is a little worried, though. When he had broken into the auction house, he was seen by a nighttime worker. She was pretty easy to knock out, but she had to have regained consciousness and called the police by now. He was probably all over the news.

Maybe that's why he felt eyes on him.

Just his imagination.

Yeah, that's it.

Sans yawns. It's been three days since his last rest lasting more than an hour, and the exhaustion was crippling. He pushes away branches and steps over stones, constantly losing his balance and swaying in his step. When he trips over a rock and falls, he hears a crack.

But there are no twigs underneath him.

Sans leaps to his feet and spins around on his heels. He summons a Gaster Baster with one hand and holds himself upright against a tree with the other.

"who's there!" he growls, looking around. It's hard to see in the evening light. The shadows all look like they're moving. Sans' breathing hitches, nervousness eating at his bones. Slowly, the Gaster Blaster dissipates, and Sans leans back.

He's losing his mind, and he knows it.

But his brother is just a few more miles away.

He has to keep going. Trudging forward, Sans pushes another branch out of the way. He tightly grips his brother's scarf around his neck.

He's too close to fail now.

* * *

 **A/N: There's a companion fic to this one out that picks up at this chapter. It's called The BS Collection. The first part tells Sans' story of searching for Papyrus. Go check it out!**


	7. Talk with Alphys

Three days into your 'vacation' and you are bored witless. It's a wonder Papyrus has gone completely mad by now. You're sure if he had had any hair he would have torn it out by now - or, at least, that's what you're about to do.

Papyrus, bless him to the ends of the earth, keeps trying to entertain you with puzzles he's made that most kindergarteners could solve. You do them every time, though, drawing the line only when he finally starts changing the passwords to things like the computer and home security system (though it is funny when you tried to explain that one to the police.)

Other than that, you've been up to almost nothing. The star going supernova seems to be holding off for now, and you're grateful but anxious at the same time, constantly checking the feed on your computer for updates. If it keeps building up energy like this you may be able to see it from earth without the telescopes. You certainly would love to observe that, preferably when everyone is back in the office to get a good look at it.

Melody's limp is going away, and you are relieved. The events of weeks ago still bother you, but you let Melody have her way. Maybe you are a bad guardian, but you just do not want to fight melody on this one. You are just glad she hasn't come back like that again because then you would have no choice but to intervene, and confrontation is not one of your strong suits.

On the morning of the fourth day, you get the call from the office.

You're making breakfast with Papyrus, who is having trouble with the concept of making eggs without the egg shells in them.

"THEY ARE A GOOD SOURCE OF GRIT AND RESOLVE!" He claims.

"I'm not sure where you're getting your information from, but I don't think that is how those things work," you tell him.

"UNDYNE TAUGHT ME THAT," Papyrus says. "AND SHE HASN'T STEERED ME WRONG ON COOKING YET."

You feel a little colder when he mentions Undyne's name. You subconsciously rub your neck, trying not to think of the woman who almost killed you to save her girlfriend. You still haven't told Papyrus about what really happened, keeping the story at the 'there was a break in' level. Papyrus is not-so-subtlely worried about you, but much like you are with Mel, he lets it go, and you are thankful for that. You just don't think you could handle telling Papyrus what happened to Undyne.

Thankfully, that was when the phone rang and you excused yourself.

"Hello?" You answer.

The familiar voice of your boss asks to speak with you.

"Speaking?" You pace into the other room.

"Hey, it's good to hear you sounding so well," he says. "How are you recovering?"

"I'm doing well," you say. "Still a little dazed."

"I bet," he says. There is an awkward silence before he continues. "I know this is a bit of an odd request but," there's a beat of silence. "I was hoping you could come in for a few hours today."

You are ectatic. "Yes, sure, absolutely!" You have been bored out of your mind and the thought of going back to work was just too tempting. "What'd you need me to do?"

You hear an awkward noise over the line, and your excitement turns to concern. Before you can ask, your boss speaks up. "You see," he says, puffing some air. "We need you to talk to Alphys."

What?

"What?"

"Something's wrong with her; she hasn't been eating since the attack and she won't respond much when we try to talk to her."

Oh.

Oh wow.

Oh shit, no no no. You are not the right person for this.

"Sir, I don't mean to be rude," you say, "but I don't think there's much I can do. I'm a physicist, not a psychologist."

"Please," he says, "I'm running out of options. Alphys gets along with you, and you do have a reputation of being a sort of 'monster whisperer'."

You do?

"I... I don't know," you say, and you really don't. It's not that you don't want to help, it's that you don't think you can. Alphys is your friend, and you are definitely worried about her, but you are no good with emotions. Hell, you can hardly handle your own emotions, how are you supposed to handle hers? You'd just end up making things worse - but you just can't stand the idea of her being there all alone like that. You have a good idea of what will happen to her if something doesn't happen fast, and so you make your decision. "Alright," you say. "I'll talk to her."

"Great, thank you so much!" He says.

You tell him you'll be there as soon as you've finished breakfast, and you hang up the phone.

Crap.

What the hell have you just gotten yourself into?

You're at your office not 50 minutes later. You told Papyrus that you were going by the office to take care of a few things and that you'd be back soon.

When you get to your building, you have to go through the back door since the public entrance is covered in police tape. You make your way down the empty halls. It's so quiet you can hear your shoes clack on the tile; it's unsettling. This place is usually so full of life, but it's empty now and it just makes the attack feel more real somehow. You swallow down your discomfort; you're here for Alphys. You find your boss's door and lightly knock.

"Come in." You comply. He's sitting at his desk and sorting through papers. When he sees it's you, he instantly stands up, taking out a set of keys. "Two doors down to the right. You should see a staircase right as you walk in. Alphys' room is the first door straight across."

You nod and walk off, stopping at the break room to heat up a packet of instant noodles. You make sure to get Alphys' favorite flavor. You put a lid over the bowl and carry it with you. You make your way to the large metal door that leads to the basement. You fumble with the key and unlock the door. Despite years of working here, you've never been in the basement before. There's nothing down there; you think you heard that it was once a radiation center, but you're not sure. Either way, it was empty for years before you started working here, and then Alphys... moved in.

You find Alphys' door easily enough, and you look through the window on her door. She's lying on top of her sheets with her hands folded across her chest, glasses still on her face, though slightly squewed. She's staring at the ceiling like it has the secrets of the universe stored in the polystyrene tiles.

You knock as quietly as you can, trying not to startle her. When she doesn't answer or even so much as move you open the door and walk inside. Alphys turns her head to acknowledge you, but doesn't say anything.

"Hey, Alphys," you say, looking around. The room looks like an old office that was converted into a cell - that's probably what it is. There is only a bed in the room, so there is nowhere for you to sit or put the noodles. You end up just positioning yourself on the edge of the bed after a minute of awkward shuffling. You drum your fingers on the lid of the ramen, wishing that Alphys would say something so you could get started. You weren't made for these kinds of things! You were made to solve equations, not people problems!

"Are you... Well...?" You start, trying to get through to her.

She doesn't answer.

You sit there another minute.

"I brought you something," you say, motioning to the bowl in your lap. "It's ramen. I heard you were having trouble eating and this is your favorite so I thought maybe you'd want some. It's kind of hot, actually - it's burning my lap... haha"

Damn, you sound like you'd taken speech classes from Melody.

There is another too long silence before Alphys speaks. "Why are you here?"

You sigh. "I was worried about you," you answer honestly.

"He called you, didn't he?" She says, referring to your boss.

"Yeah," you admit. "He's worried about you too."

Another silence.

"You should just go," Alphys says. "It's obvious you don't want to be here."

You shake your head. "You know I can't do that, Al."

Alphys sits up and hugs her knees. She sits there like that for a moment, but for looking up at you. Her eyes widen in shock, and you're confused before you realize you didn't wear a scarf.

Shit

"Haha, yeah," you say, touching your neck where the fading purple was. "Your girlfriend certainly has a tight grip on her."

Wrong thing to say. Alphys looks back down and clams up. Right, reminding her that the love of her life had been not 30 feet away looking for her is probably not the best thing to say to her right now.

"I'm sorry," she surprises you by saying.

"For what?" You ask.

She doesn't answer, instead she just repeats herself.

"Alphys?" You put the noodles on the ground and reach over to her, rubbing her back. "Alphys, hey, this isn't your fault. None of this is your fault."

She sits there, shaking, but she leans into your touch, so you count that as a victory.

"You hate me," she mutters.

"I don't," you tell her. "I never have."

"I just want to go home," Alphys buries herself further into her legs. "I- I can't. I can't do this. It's just too much." You hear a little sniff and you feel trapped. You aren't the person for this. You really aren't. Melody would be great at this, ever the people person she is. She would be able to get Alphys out of her shell in a heartbeat. The only other person you've met like her would have to be Papyrus...

...who was a mutual friend with Undyne...

You think for a moment.

"Alphys, sweetie," you say. "I'm going to step out for a moment then I'll be right back."

She doesn't respond and you try not let your heart sink. Once as you are outside you quickly fish out your phone and dial your home number.

"HELLO?" Papyrus says. "WHO IS THIS?"

"It's me," you say.

"ME? HELLO ME!" Papyrus says cheerfully and you giggle.

You give him your name.

"HUMAN! IT IS GOOD TO HEAR FROM YOU AGAIN. IT HAS BEEN TOO LONG." It's been less than an hour, and yet you know he's being sincere. Yes, this was definitely a good idea. Now you just have to find out if...

"Papyrus," you say, getting to the point. "I need to know, do you know anyone named Alphys? Short reptilian monster? Likes anime?"

"HMM," Papyrus thinks for a moment. You hold your breath. "AH YES. YOU MEAN UNDYNE'S SPECIAL FRIEND!"

You celebrate in your head. "Yes that one."

"I REMEMBER HER. SHE WOULD STAY OVER AT UNDYNE'S HOUSE SOMETIMES. SHE WOULD ALWAYS GET TO SLEEP IN UNDYNE'S BED, WHICH IS UNFAIR BECAUSE I WOULD ALWAYS GET THE COUCH."

You smile. This is going to work.

"Well, she's actually a coworker of mine," you tell him.

"REALLY?" He says with his normal level of enthusiasm.

"Yeah, and she's... Uh... Not feeling well right now," you choose your words carefully, not wanting to give away too much.

"OH NO!"

"Oh no is right. I was hoping that maybe you could talk with her. It might make her feel better."

"OF COURSE!" He agrees. "A CHAT WITH THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS ALWAYS A GREAT WAY TO CURE THE BLUES!"

You smile. You hope you're doing the right thing.

"Okay, I'll go get her," you tell him and enter back into Alphy's depressing little room. She is just how you left her, but she does look up a little when you enter the room, probably genuinely surprised that you came back. You reach out with the phone and she looks at it quizzically. With a little prompting, she takes the box and puts it up to her ear.

"H- hello?"

The look on her face is the best thing you had seen all day. The apathy and despair is gone in an instant - replaced with a look of hope and shock.

"Papyrus!?" She grips the phone with both hands as if she's afraid she'll lose it.

"Y- yes, I am..." She says, close to tears again. "N-no, I didn't... How am I? How are you !?"

You decide it would be best if you left the room. You wait outside and lean against the door, thankful that it is thick enough to muffle their conversation. Privacy has always been a virtue that you respected.

After a while, the talking stops and you open the door back up. Alphys is sitting much more animatedly, holding your phone in front of her.

"I- I didn't know Papyrus was on the surface," she says.

You nod, taking the phone back. "Caught me off guard too. He's really nice."

Alphys nods in agreement.

There is another silence, and for a moment you are afraid that she's gone back, but then she speaks.

"T- thank you," Alphys says. "It- it was n- nice to talk t- to - to..." She trails off, then picks up softly, "...to someone I knew before."

You sit there together for a small while. You're glad you could help, even if you didn't actually do much of the helping. There's just one more thing to take care of...

"You know I'm not leaving until you eat something," you say. Alphys chuckles.

"Figures," she says, hopping off the bed and picking up the bowl.

"If it's cold I'll go back up and heat it," you tell her but she waves you off.

"It's fine," she takes the pair of offered chopsticks and eats. She's always been a bit of a messy eater, and now that you've spent some time with Papyrus you wonder if monsters have a different set of manners from humans when it comes to eating; not that it bothers you. You've always had a strong stomach, and right now there was nothing you wanted to see more than Alphys eating again.

Alphys' mood has improved so dramatically after just that one phone call it's almost unbelievable.

When she's finished she sits there for a moment, fiddling with the bowl.

"If you're still hungry, I can get you some more," You offer. She politely declines. Her pleasant contentedness slowly fades, though this time into a kind of heartbroken sadness instead of the depression and apathy you had been before.

"When I found out what had happened," Alphys says, looking down at her claws. "I-I was really upset. I was u-upset because she g-got h-h-hurt because of me. " Alphys curls in on herself. "S-she came back for me. She was the hero of the Underground; she was vital in this time of crisis, b-but for whatever reason, she- she came back for me. She came back for me and I know I'm not worth it."

You are at a loss for words. You have nothing to say to that. There isn't anything to say to that. You sit on the ground next to her and wrap your arms around her. Huh, when was the last time you initiated a hug? It had to have been with your sister, and it couldn't have been too long ago, could it have? A year ago, maybe two?

Alphys sinks into your arms and she begins sobbing. You count this as progress, since it is a thousand times preferable to the apathy that you had seen her display before. You pat her back and let her cry.

"I don't- I can't understand what you must be going through, Alphys," You tell her. "But I think you're worth it. I know Undyne thought you were worth it."

Alphys sobs become intertwined with frequent "I'm sorry"s and you continue to comfort her. You decide that now is as good a time as ever to ask.

"Alphys," you say lightly. "I'm going to talk to my boss about letting you stay with me at night; would you like that?"

Alphys' breathing almost stops completely. She seems too stunned to speak. She looks up at you and for a moment seems completely at a loss for words, though not for a lack of trying.

"I- I, I d- don'- I don't w-w-want to be-"

"Papyrus will be there, and I'll be there, and my sister will be there," You say, continuing to rub her back comfortingly. "I told you about my sister. She's a real big anime fan."

Alphys still looks in shock, but she quickly nods her head.

You smile.

"I can't make any promises right now," You say, "But I'll try my best to get you out of this place." And you don't mean just for the nights, but one step at a time.

Alphys looks down and mutters, "Thank you." It's the best she can do right now, but you don't think she could have said anything that would have made you happier. You start to get up to leave, but Alphys puts a hand on your arm.

"Don't leave just yet," She says before becoming quickly embarrassed and quickly pulling back her yellow digits. "S-sorry, I just…"

"It's fine," You say, sitting back down. "Take your time, Al. I'll stay as long as you need."

She smiles. "Thanks."

"What are friends for?" You shrug.

"Friends…" Alphys mutters nostalgically. "It's been awhile since it felt right to use that word."

You feel a terrible wave of pity wash over you, but it is quickly washed over with a wave of guilt and shame.

"I'm glad you can still think of me as a friend," You say, picking at your neck. "It's my fault you're still here."

Alphys shakes her head. "You were just d-doing what you h-had to do. I don't blame you at all." She huffs in a kind of mock laugh. "Undyne can be a bit… rough when she's passionate about something."

"No kidding," You fake a laugh to hide your fear. "You sure know how to pick 'em"

Alphys smiles. "O-oh, she's nice when you get to know her. Scared the crap out of me when we first met."

"Oh?"

Alphys dives into the story about how she and Undyne discovered each other. The conversation is so normal it almost makes you forget that the person you two are talking about tried to kill you less than a week ago. You push down your residual fear; it's pointless now and you know it. You're here for Alphys' sake, not to relive one of the most traumatic moments of your life. You smile and nod along to Alphys' story, and when she's finished she looks exhausted.

"I'm sorry," She says, stifling a yawn. "I don't know why I'm so tired."

"You've had a… an emotional day," You say understandingly. "Why don't you rest and I'll go talk to the boss, okay."

She nods sleepily and thanks you again. You slip out the door and Alphys settles down on the sheets. You make your way up to your boss' office.

"How is she?" He asks as you enter.

"Better," You tell him. "I got her to eat something. She's sleeping now."

"Good," He says, looking genuinely relieved. Your boss is a lot of things, and he may not be a monster lover like you, but he's certainly got a soft spot for Alphys. That will make this next part easier, at least.

"I wanted to talk to you about something," You tell him, taking a seat across from him. "It's about Alphys'... living conditions." He urges you forward and you continue. "You see, sir, I don't think that living in those closed quarters is good for her health, not to mention the isolation and the light depravation. I believe it somewhat might have lead to this… episode."

He sighs and nods. "I've been thinking that too, but I don't have anywhere else to house her that's secure."

You see your opportunity.

"Well, that's just it," you say. "I was thinking that maybe she could stay with me. I've been housing a of my own monster for some time now, and it wouldn't be too much trouble to take in one more."

Your boss seems to think on it for a moment.

"I would take full responsibility for her," You assure him. "I could take care of meals, as well; it wouldn't be a problem."

"Hmm," he thinks. "I guess that could work. You would have to come into work an hour early to take her."

"That would be fine," You tell him.

"And she would have to stay here over the weekends," He says.

"Not preferable, but still doable," you answer honestly.

Your boss chuckles, "If you're sure you want to put her up, I'll talk to the head of the company, see what they say. It's not a definite yes, but I'll see what I can do about setting it up.

You want to jump for joy.

You thank your boss one last time, and he thanks you for coming in to help. You find yourself in your car and on your way home before you know it.

You did it! Not only did you get Alphys to feel better, but you also now have a real, tangible chance of really helping her. You may not be able to get her back to the underground, but you can still try to make her life a little better. She needs the help in this world, just like Papyrus.

You make it home before noon and as you approach the front door you hear muffled voices. Strange, it sounds like two people, but neither of them sound like Papyrus. One of them sounds like Melody, though…

You open the door quietly and listen.

"...and then Papyrus tells me that Sans said-" Melody notices you standing in the door. "Oh, Hey! I thought you were going to be out a little longer."

There are two people on your couch. One is Melody and the other is someone you've never met before. They are about your age, with brunette hair and wearing a striped jacket. Their eyes lock with yours and you feel… vulnerable.

"Who's your friend, Mel?" You ask, not breaking eye contact with the stranger.

"Oh, I'm sorry," She quickly stands up and motions towards the person. "This is Francis, Francis, my sibling."

"Pleasure to meet you," Their voice is low and smooth, and you step forward to shake their hand.

"Likewise," You nod. So this was the teacher Melody was so enamored with? You didn't think that they would be so… creepy. "Is… Francis your first name?"

"Yes," They say, "I think using first names is a good way to connect with your students."

"Yeah," you agree half-heartedly. What is with them? They are so unnaturally calm it's like they're not even human. In a fluid motion, Francis moves past you towards the door. You have to fight to suppress a shiver that is trying to make it's way down your spine.

"I think I should be going," Francis says. "It was nice seeing you again, Melody."

Mel gives an overly enthusiastic wave. "Come back soon!"

You are left alone with Melody. Her enthusiasm slowly fades to an awkward shuffle. "So… That was Francis."

You nod. "They're… friendly."

Melody nods. "Oh you wouldn't believe it! They're super friendly once you get to know them. They're not very talkative but they are really good at listening and solving problems and they have been helping me with English and they're a big Monster's RIghts supporter but when they met Papyrus they got really quiet I don't know why…"

"Where is Papyrus, anyways," You say, suddenly remembering. "I need to talk to him about something."

"Oh?" Melody looks curious.

You smile. "We might be getting a new guest in the house." Melody looks excited, then confused and disappointed.

"You didn't buy another monster, did you?" She deadpans.

You shake your head, blushing. "No, nothing like that. You remember Alphys from work?" Melody nods. They've met once or twice, and you've talked about her enough for Melody to have a good idea of who you're talking about. "Well, the office is thinking about housing her here."

Melody squeals with joy. "THATS AWESOME!"

"WHAT IS AWESOME? IS IT ME?" Papyrus' voice booms from upstairs.

"YEAH," Mel calls back to him. "IT IS! AND WE'RE GETTING A ROOMMATE!"

"GOODIE! I LOVE COMPANY!"

Mel rushes up the stairs, presumably to tell Papyrus about the good news. You smile. Your family is getting bigger, and you love it. You can't even imagine life without Papyrus now. Alphys will be happy here. She and Melody will get along great.

You are still a little rattled by Francis, but you push it out of your mind. There is no reason to be bothered by them. Melody likes them well enough, and while she might not be the best judge in a person's character, she can typically tell when someone has bad intentions.

You shake your head. No, that's not good enough. You have a bad feeling about them, and while you aren't typically one to judge based on feelings, you make an exception for the creepy adult that has made their way into Melody's life. You're going to have to have a talk with Francis if you're going to keep letting Mel go over to their house. You just need to get to know them better, that's all.

You make your way up stairs and lay down on your bed, listening to the muffled sounds of Papyrus' and Melody's enthusiastic conversation. You close your eyes and think on all that's happened today. Frustration and excitement mix and you don't have a name for the feelings you are experiencing right now. A lot has happened in the past week, and your life is changing more rapidly than you are comfortable with or would even like. You don't want to think about it right now, though; you're exhausted, and it doesn't take long for you to slip into a sleep.


	8. The Truth

It is the next day that your boss calls back with the approval sheets in his office; all you have to do is come in, sign them and pick up Alphys. She's waiting in her little room, a small bag packed with her other sets of clothes and spare glasses. You can see excitement written into her face, and you wonder how long it's been since she's seen outside these walls. It couldn't have been since she moved here, could it? That's just too depressing a prospect to imagine, so you ignore it.

The rules were told to you before, and they were pretty simple; don't leave her alone and don't let her get injured. Outside of that, there wasn't much you couldn't do.

You were a little giddy yourself. You hadn't quite realized it until recently, but you've wanted to free Alphys since you met her. You still weren't quite there yet, but this was a good step forward.

"Melody," You say when you and Alphys first step through the door. "You remember Alphys?"

"Of course!" She says bouncily. "How could I forget that cute face?"

Alphys blushes.

"I-It's good to s-see you too," She mutters.

Melody quickly wraps Alphys into a light-hearted hug. "I can't wait for you to settle in! We're sharing a room so I hope you like late night anime marathons!"

Alphys smiles brightly.

Papyrus also enters the room. Between the two of them, you feel confident enough that Alphys will feel more than welcome here.

Papyrus wants to make a celebratory dinner, but Melody is able to talk him into Chinese. Everyone is sitting around the table picking from the little white cardboard boxes. You can't remember the last time your table has been so full. Alphys still seems to be nervous, but in a more... acute social anxiety way, but it is no where near her usual subdued silence back in the office. Occasionally, she'll even chime into Papyrus' and Melody's conversation. You are content to sit back and listen, munching on your Lo Mein.

"So you've played Mew Mew Kissie Cutie?" Melody says through a mouthful of rice.

"Mmhm, it's my all time favorite," Alphys replies, getting excited.

"Really? I like it too. Have you ever played the co-op version?" Melody asks.

Alphys looks shocked, then sad. "Y-yeah. Undyne and I used to..."

Your heart stops when you hear her name, and you really need to get that under control.

"Who's Undyne?" Melody asks suggestively, completely missing Alphy's discomfort.

"UNDYNE IS THE HEAD OF THE ROYAL GUARD," Papyrus supplies, equally oblivious. "SHE IS THE HERO OF THE UNDERGROUND."

Alphys looks down at her food sadly. "Was the hero..."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'WAS'?" Papyrus asks. Alphys gives him a weird look, and for a moment, you are afraid that she will tell him what happened, but understanding flashes in her eyes and she gives a fake smile that puts yours to shame.

"A-ah, I-I mean I, uh..." Alphys is sweating, and you scramble to help her.

"Alphys must have misspoken," You say, feigning nonchalantness. "It's been awhile since she's been in the underground, after all."

"OH," Papyrus says, letting the issue drop, content with that answer. "I SEE."

Later, when you are cleaning up, Alphys approaches you.

"You didn't tell him," She says.

"How could I?" You tell her, refusing to look her in the eye in fear of what you might find. She said she didn't blame you, but you are still afraid that she secretly hates you. "He really admires her. And I... didn't know how to tell him."

You see Alphys nod out of the corner of your eye.

"I won't tell him," Alphys says.

"Thank you."

She shrugs. "We're not that close - I wouldn't be c-comfortable telling him something like that," You nod, understandingly, then she adds. "But I don't think k-keeping this from him is a good idea,"

Oh.

She gives you a hand with the dishes before heading back with the group. You work in silence, thinking on what she said. You've certainly been keeping a lot from Papyrus, but not out of any disrespect for him. He's just so innocent, you can't help but want to protect him! That's what started this whole thing in the first place!

But was it really the right thing to be doing? You know you wouldn't want someone keeping secrets from you like this, but then again, you aren't Papyrus. You aren't alone and confused in a world that views you as nothing more than property - an animal. Could you really add to that by telling him about his brother's criminal activity, about Undyne's capture and possible demise?

About your involvement in both?

And his emancipation. You know that eventually he would have to find out about that, but you were hoping that you could keep it somewhat under wraps until you were more certain nothing was going to happen. Not to mention that with Alphys here, it would make it more awkward to tell one he'll be free and not the other.

You sigh. This is all too much. You just want everyone to be happy.

Why was that getting harder and harder to obtain?

The last dish is cleaned and put away, and you re-enter the living room. Alphys and Melody have found a Mew Mew Kissie Cutie movie and were watching it intently, too invested for either of them to get up and make popcorn. You guess that'll be your job. Papyrus is watching too - though he seems more interested in his word search than the spectacle on screen.

You smile. You don't need to disturb this - not right now, at least. Things are finally looking good for everyone. You sit down next to your sister, who immediately asks for you to make popcorn, as you suspected she would, and is shushed by Alphys.

Yeah. No need to break this up with hard realities.

Not until the hard realities come breaking down on you.

A couple of weeks go by, and by now everyone is settled in. You are back at work with your new hours. Alphys has to be in the doors by 5:00 every morning, and while you were told that you could just drop her off and leave to do whatever for an hour, you chose to stay. There wasn't much of a point in just standing around for an hour; besides, you liked your work and you liked having the office mostly to yourself and Alphys.

Alphys' is doing much better, too. You had noticed in the back of your mind that she was getting worse, but had been ignoring it under the pretense that there was nothing you could do about it. Now, though, it's like she's a completely different person. Instead of closing people off she welcomes them and even answers questions with more than a two word answer. Sometimes. She still had bad days, but they were easier to deal with since you got at least 10 hours of private time with her a day.

You still haven't made up your mind about what to tell Papyrus. You know, intellectually, that you will have to tell him sometime - that you can't and _shouldn't_ hide these things from him forever - but you just don't want him to know. You don't want him to know what happened to Undyne and you _definitely_ don't want him to know his brother is a wanted criminal - you want to protect him.

But that's selfish.

By not telling him you are making things a thousand times worse. You have to explain these things to him, and you'll have to tell him in a way that won't break his little heart.

You've made things bad enough by waiting this long.

At around the middle of the two week mark, you and Alphys get home early. Papyrus has already cooked dinner. Alphys had to get used to his cooking a bit, but according to her, Undyne had a similar… passionate cooking style. He and Melody are sitting in the living room. Papyrus is playing with a word search and Melody is on the phone.

"So then we thought that we could just go over the police tape, because, you know, to help and stuff and…" Melody trails off when she sees you in the door. "I gotta go, Francis, see you tomorrow."

She hangs up.

Police tape?

"What's up?" Melody says to you.

"Nothing much," you tell her, putting your bags down. "You and Francis were talking?"

She shuffles. "Yeah…"

You frown. You had hold Melody to hold off on seeing her teacher outside of school until you me with them, however that had been weeks ago. You aren't surprised they've been keeping in touch via phone. You need to meet with Francis, and soon.

As if sensing your train of thought, Melody pipes up, "Francis said that you could come over today if you want. You know, talk, get to know each other a bit. They think you could be friends."

You nod. It's about time that you solved this Francis issue, anyways. "You know what, I think I will. What's their number"

Melody smiles and gives you her phone.

Two hours later you are at the address Francis gave you. You knock on the door with your free hand and balance a tray of brownies in the other. They're store bought, since you don't trust anyone in your household to bake a good batch, but you still wanted to be polite and bring something.

Francis answers the door almost immediately. They're wearing much more relaxed looking clothes, complete with a pair of too loose sweatpants tied at the drawstring. They are a lot less intimidating this way, and you wonder if maybe you were just nervous from all that had happened last time.

"It's good to officially meet you," Francis says, stepping aside. "Come in."

You oblige, putting the brownies on a kitchen island that separates the living room from the kitchen. They motion you to take a seat on a couch, and you do so, sinking into the piece of furniture.

"So," Francis starts, taking out a couple of plates from their cabinet. "I assume you wanted to talk to me about Melody?"

You nod. They're sure get to the point fast. Francis is slicing the brownies from the tray and divvying them up onto the plates. They hand you one and sit across from you, crossing their legs at the ankle.

"I had just started the tea when you arrived," They say, "it will be a few minutes. I hope you don't mind."

"Of course not," You tell her, taking a bite.

They smile. You get that same feeling last time you saw them; like they know more about something than you do. It makes you uncomfortable. You shift your eyes down.

"You are worried about Melody and I meeting?" They prompt.

You swallow quickly.

"No! I mean, yes, a little… they've been spending so much time with you that I just wanted to… meet you myself."

They nod understandingly. "I know it's sometimes seen as a bit odd for a teacher to be friends with their students, but I've never had a problem with it. It helps to know the person you are trying to educate. Besides, I very much like making new friends."

You nod understandingly.

"I think it might be good if I… get to know you a bit more," You say, trying to keep it as casual as possible. "Maybe, tell me a bit about yourself?"

They give a confused look, or was that worry? either way, it's gone as soon as the emotion appeared on their face. "Me? There isn't much to tell. I'm just your average person, living life and trying to make the world a little bit of a better place."

You smile. They really are a nice person, like Melody said. They are calm, modest, and… quiet. So far, there's been nothing too out of the ordinary with them, but you aren't finished yet. This is still this… eerie feeling about them. Like they're trying to hide something.

"So what made you choose to be a teacher?" You ask, genuinely curious.

"It's as I said, I want to change the world a little," They tell you. "And making a difference in the lives of children is the best way to do that."

"You think so?" You say.

They look sad for a moment and they become distant - like they are remembering something, then their gaze returns to you. "Maybe not, but it's the best I can do."

You nod. You understand that. You really do.

"Besides, there was a… close friend of mine who wanted to be a teacher," They say, returning to their usual soft tone. "And since she can't anymore, I can do that in her place. It's the least I can do for her..."

"That's a nice thought."

The tea whistles and Francis stood up to retrieve it. You follow them with your eyes. The more you talk to them, the more you feel comfortable you feel with their presence, but the less you trust them. They're hiding something. You may not pick up on much when it comes to people, but they seems to have a lot of guilt built up around them.

They return carrying a tray of pretty little tea cups. They pour you a cup before filling their own.

"It's golden flower tea," They say, focusing on filling their cup without spilling. "It is common in the monster world."

You raise your eyebrows. That's odd. You wonder where they got it from, since there isn't much exported from the Underground, not that there's much there anyways. It's good tea, though. You wonder if Papyrus or Alphys would like it, though the don't seem like the tea-drinking type...

"It's good," you tell them honestly. "Melody told me you were knowledgeable in monster history and culture."

There was an odd beat of silence.

"... I dabble," they say quietly.

You decide to let the topic drop.

The two of you spend your time sipping tea, talking about nothing in particular. There are a few things you note about Francis: They don't smile, they don't laugh, and they don't typically talk without being prompted. They still give you a creepy vibe, but you are getting more and more comfortable with them. After a while though, between the shameful amount of brownies you've eaten and the tea, the inevitable happens.

"I'm afraid I need to use your restroom," You tell them. The finish their sip of tea before pointing down the hall.

"Third door on the right," They say.

You make your way down the hall, and you notice the absolute bareness of everything, like they had just moved into the house. The hall was devoid of pictures or mirrors or plants or decor of any kind. You stop at the second door in the hallway. Had they said the third or second door, and was it on the right or left? You were so focused on the aesthetics of the house you don't remember.

You try the door to your left and find an empty, carpeted room. It looks like a kid's bedroom, minus any sign that there had ever been a child in this room. Or anyone, really. Somehow, the room is overgrown with vines. There is no bed - no furniture of any kind save for a lone table by a window… and a small wilting pant. Huh, guess that's the source of the vines, though why Francis would have a plant like that in their house is beyond you.

You are about to shut the door when it calls to you.

"Frisk, you forgot to water me again."

You stop and look around. There was no one in the room, so who could have…

"Hey, have you gone deaf _and_ dumb!?" It yells again. The plant's golden flower shoots up and glares at you. _Glares_ , with a menacing looking face that had been hidden by the petals a moment ago. "Water me you stupid -" It looks at you in shock, then it's face morphs into something more… sinister, then laughs. "You're not Frisk."

You shake your head. It… he… what _is_ he? Is he a monster? You had heard of plant monsters but you never thought they would actually look… like a big buttercup.

"I… I'm sorry," You stammer, regaining your balance. "I didn't mean to intrude."

"Huh, you're a new voice," He says, ignoring you. "Frisk only ever has that loud-mouth little girl over… you kind of sound like her, actually."

 _Melody._

You ignore his obvious dislike of your sister and take a step back.

"I'll just be going now," you tell him, attempting to shut the door. A vine curls around the handle.

"What's the rush?" the flower says, face returning to it's creepy, venomous smile. "It's been awhile since I've had someone besides Frisk to talk to."

A vine travels up to your hand, and you yank it back, stumbling into yet another vine. The vines are trying to get at your feet and you are scrambling further into the room trying to avoid them.

And there is laughter

That _stupid plant is laughing_.

The vines finally find their way around your torso and neck, and you scream. The flower has you neck, just like _she_ did. The pressure isn't enough to cut off your air supply, but you feel the same choking sensation you felt back then. You claw at the vines wrapped around you like a scarf and that seems to make the flower happy.

"Flowey."

The vines unwrap and back off.

The plant snarls. "About time you showed up. I'm thirsty"

Francis is standing inches behind you. They have their same unreadable expression on their face, but you are sure you see a hint of irritation in there.

"I've been busy. You won't wilt from an hour without attention."

The flower shoots Francis one last glare, but settles down and looks away. You take this a dismissal and leave the room with Francis. You close the door and feel the urge to lock it.

"I'm sorry about that," Francis says, faced away from you. "Flowey can be… irritable at times."

You are at a loss for words.

"The door up a head on the right," The point behind them as they walk of. You are confused. "You were trying to find the bathroom, right?"

"O… Oh… yeah," You say, walking awkwardly to the door.

When it shuts you just stand there.

What just happened? What was that? What… Does Francis own a monster? Are they keeping him locked up in that room all day?

Your hand makes it's way up to your neck, rubbing off the residual effects of the panic that made you think you were being choked. The plant didn't seem to have any actual intention of harming you, he seemed to just want to get a reaction out of you, and _boy_ did he find the right place.

But that still didn't answer what he was doing here.

You don't understand, but you know it's none of your business, so you finished up and return to the room, where Francis has cleared out the dishes.

Before you can say anything, Francis addresses you.

"You are the first person to meet flowey besides myself in… longer than I know," They tell you.

"He's certainly… something," You say, trying not to give away your distaste for the thing that might be Francis' friend.

Francis nods and continues, "He can be a handful, but he is trying his best. He... doesn't do well with new people."

No. _'Doesn't do well with new people'_ doesn't cut it for a situation like that _._ _'Doesn't do well with new people'_ is having trouble speaking, or getting nervous, or talking too much - not trying to _kill_ the person talking with you. That was not _'doesn't do well with new people'_ , that was the telling signs of a sociopath.

"How did you end up with a monster like that?" You ask.

They crack an odd, melancholy smile. "That's a very long story - and Flowey's not really a monster."

He's not?

"Then what is he?" You ask, confused.

Francis seems to have a hard time answering that, and eventually decides on an answer. "He does not have a soul."

That's… certainly odd. All living, conscious beings have a soul, and that thing was certainly conscious to be able to talk and think like he did. You are about to ask how when Francis waves you off.

"It's unimportant," They say. "You won't have to interact with him again."

Thank god for that.

But something still bothers you, and Francis picks up on this, tilting their head. The question was implied, so you answer.

"It's just… You don't seem like the type to own a monster," You tell them.

"Neither do you or your sister, for that matter," They retort. That shuts you up. You glow red.

"That… um… I… we…"

Francis shakes their head. "Melody already told me the situation with Papyrus." They say Papyrus' name oddly, but you get it go. "Personally, I am very glad that you did what you did."

"You'd be the first," You mutter. It was nice to finally have your efforts to help Papyrus acknowledged by someone other than your sister and yourself.

"Though," They start again, "I do question your decision to let Melody go to that rally."

What?

"Rally?" You question, becoming more involved. "What rally?"

"The Monster Rights Protest a few weeks ago," They say with a quizzical expression. "Melody said that you took her."

Melody was at a Monster Rights Protest? When!? How did you not know about this!? Doesn't she know those things are dangerous? She could have been seriously hurt or…

"Is that how she got hurt!?" Francis nods. You put your head in your hands and sit down. "I can't believe she would be so stupid. Oh my god… _Oh my god!_ Was it the one where that officer got shot?"

Francis nods. "I'm sorry, I thought you knew. Melody only told me about it today."

You are furious. Absolutely livid. Melody went to a rally. She knows how dangerous those things can be, and she got _hurt_ while doing it. There are so many better ways to enact change that _don't_ involve putting your life in jeopardy but she goes out and does it anyways! It's just like her, and you didn't see it comming.

And why, for the love of all things holy, did you not know about this!? She is your little sister! And you just let her get away with that mugging story. You should have known. You should have known when you saw that news report that that was where she was. With Papyrus in the house and her already rebellious attitude, why did you not see this coming?

"I think I need to leave," You tell Francis politely. "Thank you for the tea."

Francis nods, then looks as if they want to say something. You prompt them by cocking your head and they say, "It's not my place to say this, but please, take care of Papyrus. He's… fragile."

You weren't expecting that, but you nod anyways. "I will. Thank you for your concern, and for watching over Mel."

They are, after all, the only reason you knew about the rally. Stupid. You're so freaking stupid!

They nod and say goodbye, and you rush home.

"MELODY!" You yell when you walk through the door. "DOWNSTAIRS. NOW!"

She knows she's in trouble because she walks as slowly as humanly possible. Alphys and Papyrus are close behind her, not used to hearing you this mad. You don't want them to hear this.

"Follow me outside," You say to Melody, Papyrus tries to follow, but you quickly shake your head. "Just stay inside, Papyrus. I want to talk to her alone."

The two of you step out onto the porch. Melody hangs her head, and you put your head in your hands. The is a silence for a minute while you try to figure out how to start.

Melody says the first word.

"So, how was your visit to Francis'?" She asks meekly, testing the water to see how much you know.

"It was fine," You say, trying to keep your temper. "I like them, and you will definitely be allowed to see them again," She perks up. "after you tell me _exactly_ where you really were when you were 'mugged'."

Melody's face fell. "They told you."

"Of course they told me!" You almost yell, exasperated. "Melody, those things are dangerous!"

"Not all of them!" She retorts, then adds, "Well, that one was, but…"

"How could you do something so stupid!?" You cry.

"Me? Do something stupid? What about you!" She points a finger. "You're the one who bought a freaking slave!"

You are red at this point, you know it. Whether it was from anger or embarrassment, you don't care. "Don't you _dare_ turn this on me, Melody! We are talking about you, miss, not me! You lied to me!"

"Oh, and where do you think I learned to do that!?" She retorts. "Tell me, does Papyrus know where his brother is? Or his friend?"

How in the hell does she know about Sans? Or Undyne for that matter? You never told her, and it dawns on you that with Melody sharing a room with Alphys, they might have talked about these things. It doesn't matter.

"Melody, you know why I can't-"

"Why can't you!?" Melody says. "He has a right to know."

"This is not what we are talking about right now!"

"I think it is, because for all your talk, what have you done to actually _help_ monsterkind?" Melody yells. "At least I'm doing something!"

"By getting yourself killed!? By lying to me?"

"YOU'RE THE ONE WHO WON'T EVEN TELL PAPYRUS YOU KILLED HIS FRIEND!" Melody screams.

There is silence, but not because you're stunned. You are just too livid to form proper words to respond to that. Melody seems to feel the same way, until she sees something behind you, and her expression turns to that of complete and utter horror. You turn to see what it is, and you mimic her expression.

"Papyrus," You say, anger cooling like a piece of hot iron in water. "Papyrus, oh my gosh. How long have you been standing there."

He's looking at you wide eyed, but he answers "A WHILE…"

Melody is mortified, and so are you. You take a deep breath, then say. "Melody, go upstairs. We'll talk later."

She nods and rushes back inside. You are left standing with Papyrus. After all that yelling, you realize how quiet everything is out here. You probably woke up all the neighbors with your screaming match - though right now, that's the furthest thing from your mind.

"Papyrus," you start. "I… uh…" Oh god, this is a _nightmare_. "How much did you hear?"

He looks a little guilty, and you want to slap yourself again and again.

"MOST OF IT…" He admits. "HUMAN… HAVE YOU BEEN… LYING?"

You look down. "A little."

"THAT IS… NOT GOOD," He says, sounding so confused and lost.

"It's not," You agree. This isn't how you thought the truth would come out, but you don't have a choice now. "Papyrus, there are somethings I haven't been telling you, because I didn't want to hurt you… but… I think we should sit down."

You pull up one of the outdoor chairs and adjust yourself across from Papyrus. You start off slowly, telling him about the day at the office when Undyne had attacked looking for Alphys. He has some trouble believing Undyne would hurt innocent people like that, so you don't push the issue. You eventually get to the part about her capture, and once again, Papyrus doesn't seem to believe you. You have to assure him that this was all you knew twice, and he looked heartbroken. You take a deep breath. This was going to be the harder one. You tell him about his brother, and this time, his reaction is almost violent.

"MY BROTHER WOULD NEVER DO SUCH ACTS OF VILLAINY!" Papyrus says, standing up. You never realized how tall he was until he was towering over you, expression of anger and hurt on his face. "TAKE IT BACK!"

Oh and you want to, you really, _really_ do, but you know you can't.

"Pap," You say as gently as possible. "I'm sorry. Everything I've told you is the truth as I know it." He looks so hurt by this you want to get up and hug him, but he sits down before you can even think to act.

"I SEE," He says. "I… SEE..."

"There is," You start. "One more thing."

Now is as good a time as any, and with all this bad news, Papyrus could definitely use something nice.

"Do you know what emancipation is?" He shakes his head. "It's when a monster who has been… turned into a slave gets to go home." He looks curious, and you continue. "Since you've been here, I've been trying to get this for you. It's still in the process of being… started, and it will be a while, but I think there will be a good chance of us getting you home."

He his expression shows a flicker of excitement, but it dies almost as soon as it shows up on his face.

"SANS WILL NOT BE ABLE TO RETURN WITH ME?" He asks. You sigh and shake your head. He looks down. "AND IF UNDYNE IS ALIVE, THEN SHE WON'T BE ABLE TO GO BACK EITHER." You want to believe that she's alive and that she might be let back to the Underground, if only so Papyrus wouldn't look so crestfallen, but you know that's not what's going to happen.

"No," you tell him.

He thinks of something and quickly looks up, hopeful. "BUT ALPHYS CAN COME BACK, RIGHT?"

Your heart sinks as you shake your head. "I want to emancipate her too eventually, but if it does happen, it won't be for many, many years. She won't be able to go back with you."

He hangs his head again, and you want to cry.

So it's over. There is nothing more to tell him. There is nothing more you can say on the issue, for better or for worse. The two of you sit there for a long time. By now the sun has fully set and the air is getting chilly.

"We should probably go inside," you say.

Papyrus nods and the two of you go in. Alphys is sitting on the couch with Melody. They seem to have been talking before you walked in, but clammed up when you came into sight.

"EXCUSE ME," Papyrus says. "I AM… NOT FEELING WELL. I AM GOING TO GO TO BED."

Papyrus doesn't go to bed early, but you let him go. He has a lot to think about, after all.

You sit down on the chair next to Alphys and Melody. You put your head in your hands, and there is a deafening silence.

It's all out now. The good and the bad. You just hope that with time Papyrus will be able to handle this. You can't even imagine the pain he's going through right now. You feel so much pity and guilt and anger… you wish he would just blame you. You could handle him being angry at you for lying, or for your involvement in Undyne's capture, but this - this ungodly feeling of defeat is so unlike him that it worries you.

But it's Papyrus, right? He is stronger than you give him credit for. He'll be okay, right?

Melody eventually says your name, snapping you out of your thoughts.

"I'm sorry," she says. "I was acting immature."

"Yeah, you were," you say, lacking in any emotion. You just don't have the energy to be angry with her right now, and besides, she probably feels bad enough about all this.

You are upset, but you also feel somewhat relieved. There were no more secrets, and even if it was hard for Papyrus to hear he needed to know - the way he reacted said as much. And now, with everything out in the open, you can finally move on. Things could only go uphill from here.

You excuse yourself from the room, and you go up to your bed to read. You can't focus on your normal literature, so you eventually put your book down in favor of your laptop and continue to research Monster Law, pursuing the beginnings of the emancipation documents that John has sent you.

Soon, though, you find it hard to focus on that too, so you close the tab and look up Sans. You see a few more articles on him, and judging by the dates, it looks like he's getting closer and closer to your location. Maybe, if you're lucky, he'll find you before you find him. Spirit Papyrus away in the night. then Papyrus wouldn't be returning to the Underground alone, at least.

You feel a small wave of anger at Sans. He really hurt his brother by doing this, even though you know Sans is acting is on his brother's behalf. Irony's a bitch.

You can't stay awake any longer, and you put the laptop down in favor of tossing and turning in your sheets, unreasonable dread pooling in your stomach. You have a scary feeling that if you go to sleep, you won't wake up. But that's ridiculous. You are fine, it's just the anxiety talking.

When you find yourself asleep, you don't dream, you simply wake up again, toss a little, go to the bathroom, and repeat the cycle.

In the middle of one of your sleeping fits you hear your name being called.

Melody is shaking you, panicked and crying. You rub your eyes and glance at the clock. It's five in the morning. Melody is never up this early.

"What's wrong? What's wrong?" You ask, still half asleep.

"It's Papyrus," She says. "He won't wake up."


	9. Phone Call

**A/N: THIS CHAPTER HAS BEEN UPDATED TO MAKE SAN'S CONFRONTATION A LITTLE BETTER. PLEASE REREAD ;)**

* * *

Alphys, Melody and you are sitting in a circle in the living room. No one's said a word for an hour. No one wants to.

"He's fallen down."

Alphys' voice was waving with emotion when she said it. Melody woke her up before you, and she was sitting next to Papyrus when you went inside to check on him.

"Fallen down?" You asked, coming close. Alphys shakes her head.

"I don't understand," She said. "He's younger than I am. He shouldn't have…" She trailed off and put her head in her hands. "I can't do this. Not again…"

Papyrus is 'sleeping' in his room; you've given him more blankets and pillows, but there isn't anything anyone can do for him now. Apparently, from what Alphys told you, falling down is the monster equivalent to catatonic schizophrenia or a coma. Falling down is a death sentence with no cure.

"It's not supposed to happen to monsters like him," Alphys says, breaking the silence. "Sans, sure. Me, maybe… but not him. " She shakes her head emotionlessly. "It's supposed to happen to those who've lost all hope… and Papyrus was… was…"

"It's all my fault," Melody says, tearing up. "Oh god, I was so loud and he heard and he…"

You shake your head. "I share some of the blame," Most of it, actually - it was your lies that did this, after all - but you just can't bring yourself to say it out loud.

It's quiet again. You told your boss you would be a few hours late due to a 'family emergency', but you had to go in soon. Somehow, that supernova didn't appeal to you today. You quietly stand up and start packing your work bag. Alphys follows suit and begins to get herself ready.

"You should get to school, Mel," You say flatly. "I'll write you an excuse later for being late."

"So that's it then," She says, sounding annoyed. "We just go back to our lives like nothing ever happened!?"

"Yes."

She doesn't argue, settling for blowing out a huff of air and storming out. She slams the door, and for a moment, you want to do the same. Underneath your comfortable numbness, you are hurting just as much as she is.

When Alphys is ready, you walk out the door. Your normal morning conversation is replaced with the silence that seems to have consumed your life right now. Alphys knows enough to at least pretend to be alright, because when she walks through the doors, she fakes a smile and gets to work right away. You do the same. You don't want to nor can you answer any questions right now.

At your desk, you stare at the data. You work on automatic, sticking to the easier, more solvable problems at hand. You don't let your thoughts slip to Papyrus. You can't.

You want so badly for your phone to ring, though, and Papyrus be on the other end, confused and slightly annoyed at being left alone with no explanation. You smile at the thought.

"HUMAN! WHERE HAVE YOU GONE? WORK? I SEE… YOU GO THERE OFTEN"

Ah, crap, are those tears? Shit, they are.

You wipe your eyes and sniff quietly.

It's just so hard, knowing he's gone but not dead yet. It feels like you should be doing something, but even if there is something that could be done, no human doctor would do if for him. For a monster. For a slave.

Accepting defeat has never been your thing, but you just can't do anything about this. It's not like with John where you just wanted to keep going no matter what…

Oh. You should probably tell John what happened. He didn't know Papyrus, but he doesn't have to waste his time on the emancipation anymore.

Papyrus doesn't need it anymore.

You take a deep breath and step outside. You dial his number and wait for him to pick up.

"Hey! I was just about to call you," He sounds so excited, like a kid on Christmas, and you smile warmly. "You'll never guess what."

"What?" You say, humoring him.

"We found him!" He says, and you can almost see him jumping for joy. "We found the brother! Our scout found a homeless man who says a short skeleton paid him to buy a hotel room and we got the room number! Brilliant!"

Your heart clenches. Oh…

You hadn't even thought about that yet.

John calls you name. "Are you alright? You haven't said anything. I thought you would be excited."

You tell john what happened.

"Oh… Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry." That little amount of comfort given to you by an old friend makes you want to cry all over again. And you can't have that.

"It's okay," You say quickly, choking back the tears. "It's… it's fine, John. If… If you have it with you, I want Sans' number now."

You have to tell him.

Oh god, you're going to have to tell him.

This isn't a responsibility you ever wanted - or even imagined having. You thought you were going to call Sans and give him good news, not this. You had hoped that maybe he and you could be friends like you were with his brother, but you didn't see that happening now that Papyrus was… gone.

John complies easily, and you write the hotel and number down on your phone.

"I have to say this one more time," John says uneasily. "If you go through with this, you'll be an accomplice."

"I don't care," You say apathetically.

"How'd I know you say that?" John deadpans. "Good luck."

You hang up and look at the information on your screen. Two days ago, you would have been jumping for joy, now it just makes you want to throw the phone on the ground and run off. Hell, if this had been two days ago, maybe Papyrus wouldn't be…

Well, there's no use thinking about what ifs, now you just had to finish what you started. This isn't how you wanted this to end, but it seems this is it. One more phone call, two more weeks and it would be over.

You decide that after work, you are going to call the number. You don't want to do this in person. It's cowardly, you know, but you just can't look him in the eye and tell him.

You spend the rest of the day thinking about what you are going to say to Sans when you finally reach him. You play the conversation over and over in your head, going through every possible reaction Sans could have when you tell him. It is hard, since you don't know him, but you think of how you would react if someone told you Melody had died.

You skip lunch, and so does Alphys. The day crawls by at a snail's pace, and your anxiety doesn't go away. You want to lay down and cry, or just throw the information on Sans away and just… give up.

You can't even immerse yourself in your work, because every time you do, you just feel worse for ignoring the issue. Your feelings are getting jumbled up in your mess of a head. You feel guilty for hurting Papyrus, sad because you are about to lose him, angry that there is nothing you can do, and scared because you are going to have to notify his brother.

Finally, after the day goes by, you leave for home. The house is so damn quiet and empty it almost breaks you all over again. You find a note on counter telling you that Melody had gone to a friend's house. You don't blame her - hell, if you didn't have responsibilities you'd do the same. Alphys tell you she's going upstairs to take care of Papyrus.

"Are you sure? I can help you." You offer.

She waves you off. "I have experience caring for fallen monsters on my own."

You're not going to read into that right now.

You nod and head outside to the porch, the same place that you and Papyrus had your talk. Was that only last night - not even twenty-four hours ago?

You finally take out your phone. You hover over the hotel number. You don't want to do this. You're not ready. You'll never be ready. You take a deep breath and hit call.

…

…

No answer.

You want to cry - from grief, sorrow or relief, you're not sure.

You call again. No answer.

On the third time, the phone picks up, but there is no voice on the other end.

"Hello?" You say. No reply. "Can you hear me?" Still no reply; you decide to take a risk. "Sans?" There still no reply, but they don't hang up. You're beginning to think that it was just the phone acting weird, when, finally, there is a voice.

"how'd you get this number?"

It's low and smooth, nothing like Papyrus' enthusiastic barks. You take another deep breath.

"It's not important," You tell him. You can't do this. Oh god, what are you going to say next? Weren't you preparing all day? Don't you have anything to say to him? Come on, you can do this. You take a deep breath. "I… I have your brother."

There's a click.

He hung up.

You call back again to no answer. You try over and over, before finally giving up.

That could have gone better. A lot better.

Crap! Great! Now you have no way of contacting him and he still doesn't know. Oh god, this was a disaster. You failed. You have miserably and utterly failed. You sit down in the same chair you sat in yesterday and you cry. You hate yourself for it, but you don't stop.

Eventually, Alphys shows up on the porch. You control yourself, but it is obvious what you were doing. Thankfully, she ignores it and sits across from you.

"He's stable, for now," Alphys says.

"How long does it take," You ask, trying to keep your voice level.

"A week. Two, at most," She sounds like she's not telling you something, but you just don't have the energy to draw it out of her. It probably has to do with her earlier comment, and you don't really want to talk about that right now. One fallen monster is enough, you can't handle stories of others.

You two continue to sit there in complete silence before Alphys speaks.

"Before I came to the surface, I was the Royal Scientist," She says. It's nothing you didn't already know, but you nod anyways. "I was asked to conduct several experiments to see if we could break the barrier without the... help of humans." You don't care, but you keep listening politely. "One of those experiments involved taking the souls of fallen monsters after they died."

"I thought monster's souls disappeared after they die," You say without emotion.

"Most do," Alphys says. "But… I was trying to prevent that. It's… a complicated process. It just… back then, I didn't even know my patients, but I still felt sorry for them and their families. Even then, I was sad that they were dying, but it never felt so… personal."

You just nod.

"I couldn't help them," She muttered. "But… they didn't… they're still" It looks like she's contemplating something, but shakes her head at her own thoughts. "No… not to him. He wouldn't be happy."

Whatever she's talking to herself about, you don't care. It couldn't possibly make a difference now.

You look down at your hands.

"You know about Sans?" You ask, breaking her train of thought.

"Uh… he's - he's on the surface, right?" Alphys asks. You nod.

"I've been looking for him," You tell her, handing her the piece of paper with Sans' number on it. "I found his number today."

"Oh my god…" Alphys stares at the paper mesmerized. "Have you… told him?"

You shake your head. "I called him, but he hung up before I could explain."

"Oh…" Alphys looks sad again, then gives you a quizzical look. "Can't we go to his hotel and talk to him in person?"

You sigh. "He probably left already."

Alphys shrugs. "We could try."

You were about to argue about it being pointless, but you just don't have the energy for it. Besides, you have nothing better to do today. You take Alphys with you to the hotel, feeling that Sans might react better seeing someone he knows with you, even if it is on a company-supplied leash.

The drive feels way too long, especially with the awful silence that fills the car.

When you arrive your suspicions are proven correct. The room is unlocked and cleared out. Sans must have left in a rush because the place is a wreck. Both beds are unmade, and there are news articles and papers strewn all about the room. Upon closer inspection, all of them have to do either with himself, Undyne or Papyrus. One article is on the attack at your office, another is a sales document from the auction you were at. Your blood runs cold as you realize it was the copy given to the man who sold you Papyrus.

You shake your head, flopping down on the bed.

"Why were you looking for him in the first place?" Alphys asks.

"I wanted to tell him Papyrus was okay," You tell her. "He'd've been devastated if something happened to Sans while he was on the surface."

Alphys nods. "He's not going to take the news well."

You raise an eyebrow. "You mean Sans?" She nods. "You knew him?"

Alphys looks down as if trying to remember something from a long time ago. "Y- yeah, we were colleges… I think."

You silently prompt her to continue.

"Well, before I was the Royal Scientist, there was… another project," She looks like she's really straining to think of this. "I don't remember quite what it was. We both worked on it. Then… he just quit one day out of the blue; which is totally unlike him! I mean- he's lazy, but he was always obsessed over this and…" she trails off.

"So what do you think he'll do now?" You ask her, sitting up.

"Probably try to find you," Alphys says honestly, and that frustrates you because you could have figured that out on your own. You have no new information. All of this was pointless. You put your head in your hands and puff. Alphys puts the notebook down beside you. "He won't hurt you. I don't think he can; he's not all that strong."

You shake your head.

"Let's go home."

Alphys nods and helps you clear up the papers from the room. You don't want the police finding out who stayed in here, after all. You're going to burn them when you get home.

Melody's home when you get back. She went out to eat with her friends, so it's just you and Alphys for dinner. You never liked Papyrus' cooking, but it was certainly nice to come home and have something waiting for you. Even so, you'd trade anything for his burnt spaghetti right now.

You and Alphys eat leftovers and go to bed early. You suspect that Alphys is going to talk with Melody, and you are grateful. The two of them need to talk, and you just can't provide the right conversation for them right now. Besides, you would rather be alone right now. You get up at least three times to check on Papyrus, and somehow you are disappointed every time you see him laying here, despite knowing full well what you are going to find. One time you even run into Alphys sitting in there. She doesn't notice you, too involved in her own thoughts. You don't go back after that.

You are laying on your back and looking at the ceiling absently. You don't know if you should be worried about Sans looking for you or not. You don't even know if he can, then again, he did get this far. He probably would have found you on his own eventually. Is he dangerous? Everyone who knew him says he's not but… people like him can be deceiving. There isn't much you can do about him finding you, anyways. If you call the police you'll have to tell them everything.

You find yourself half hoping that he finds you just so you can explain things to him. It won't be easy. You wonder if the news will break him - if he'll fall down too or… would he lash out?

You're getting tired.

You force yourself to lie down.

You don't sleep well - or at all.

The next day at work is no easier than the last. You are still too distracted to get any real work done, and so you spend most of the day clicking through old emails and videos. Even that gets boring and you end up wandering around for an hour.

At around four you start settling down and actually starting to do some real work, finishing up the calculations you were supposed to do yesterday. For a little while, you are able to forget about Papyrus. It's around the time that you are really engrossed in that that your phone starts ringing.

"Hello?" You answer quietly.

Melody's voice calls your name. She sounds distressed.

"Mel?" You say, sitting up straight.

"I think there's someone in the house," She says. You curse silently. You have a feeling you know what this is.

"Where are you?" You ask urgently. "Did they see you?"

"I'm outside on the back porch," she tells you. "And no."

"Go to one of the neighbor's houses'," you tell her. "Don't tell them what happened and don't call the police."

"Got it," Melody says

You stay on the phone with her until she gets to another house then you rush to your car, quickly excusing yourself to "pick up your sister" to your boss.

You drive home as quickly as you can. It's not fast enough. You try your best to follow the traffic laws if only because you don't want to be stopped by the police right now. You make it eventually, though, and you quietly slip through the door. If you didn't know better, you'd say the house was empty.

You hear a noise upstairs.

You ascend the stairs slowly. You can hear a voice now, and you recognize it instantly. It is the same voice you'd heard over the phone.

"come on, pap, wake up."

You can hear the desperation and pain in his voice, and it breaks your heart. You slowly approach the door to Papyrus' room. It creaks when you open it, and Sans immediately notices your presence.

For a moment, you two look at each other, completely in awe of each other's presence. He's nothing like you imagined. He's like the complete opposite of his brother. He's short and stocky, though, his eyes are white dots just like Papyrus. He's smiling, but you don't think he can stop, so you look to his eyes for emotions. He looks heartbroken and confused.

Then the silence breaks.

"Y o u."

Magic surrounds you. Apparently, despite their physical differences, they do share magical talents. You are raised a meter off the ground, held there by magical forces.

" o?"

To your shock, Sans doesn't look angry; he doesn't look like he's feeling anything. The pupils you had seen before have vanished, leaving tired, empty sockets. He looks like he hasn't slept right in ages, and his clothes were torn and filthy. In between the pulses of panic you feel sorry for him.

" r!"

"Nothing!" You cry. This seems to only serve to incite him further, because several bones materialize all around you. The blue bones turn and rush towards you. You cannot move with Sans' magical hold on you, and even if y could you are frozen with terror. You shriek, but the bones merely pass through you. Sans looks at you with distant, blank eyes. he slowly moved towards you. Your struggles begin again.

" r."

You open your mouth to deny, to explain what really happened, but, to your horror, someone else's voice takes over.

"It's not their fault!"

Both of your attentions turn to Melody, who has appeared in the doorway. You are about to yell at her, tell her to get out - but the words are stuck in your throat. Sans is just staring, looking quickly between you and your sister. Suddenly, you notice yourself lowering gently to the floor. Sans seems to be thinking about something, and you quickly get to your feet, positioning yourself between Sans and your sister.

"We… we just wanted to help," She says from behind you. You can hear the emotion thick in her voice. "We were heartbroken when… thishappened."

"Melody," You say as calmly as you can, "Go downstairs."

You hear footsteps leading away.

Sans looks at you coldly but doesn't make a move to fight you. You stand there, once again as frozen as when he had had you in the air. The world has shrunken in this moment; it's just you and him alone in Papyrus' room, and neither of you can decide what happens next.

Sans makes the first move, putting his hands in his pockets and sighing loudly.

"you're the one who called me, right?" He asks suddenly. You nod, and he asks, "why?"

"I want... I wanted..." You trail off. Sans eyes you warily, and shakes his head. He slumps back against the wall and puts a hand on his head, as if raking back the hair he doesn't have. Finally, he speaks.

"heh, didn't think this was what i was going to find," He says, somehow looking even worse. "i don't know what i was expecting, though."

"I'm so sorry." You tell him, and you mean it - every syllable, every word. Sans' looking you over now, and you have a feeling he's assessing you, judging you at a glance. Well, whatever test he gave you, you seemed to a have passed because he simply sits himself down in a chair next to the bed and ignores you. His focus has switched solely to Papyrus.

You don't know what to do now; you feel like an intruder on a very personal family moment. Sans is watching his brother like you've seen people of dying loved ones do - unblinking and unmoving, like they're afraid that their loved one will disappear if they so much as turn away.

Not wanting to leave him alone, you elect to sit cross-legged by the foot of the chair. It stays that way for a long time, the two of you sitting in silence. You don't let your mind wander, instead focusing intensely on Sans. He doesn't seem to even be aware of you. It's like his world had compressed into himself and his comatose brother, and you once again feel like an invader.

Suddenly, he gives a little laugh.

"What's so funny?" You ask quietly.

"this is unusual," he's smirking mirthlessly. At first, you don't know what he is talking about, then you look at your location relative to him.

"Oh... Haha," you laugh without humor. "What do you know?"

A human sitting at the feet of a monster? There would be public outcry if anyone found out, and yet you didn't even think about it. It felt right in the moment. Sans needed to be closer to his brother, so you took the only other available option.

"I never wanted to hurt him," you suddenly say. "I didn't even know this could happen."

Sans' flinches, but he quickly relaxes. His emotions are almost impossible to read, but it seems like he's judging you again.

There is silence again.

"you were tracking me," Sans states, not asks.

"I had someone looking for you," you admit. "I wanted to tell you Papyrus was okay. Then... maybe..."

Well, you haven't exactly thought through what would happen after that. Sans is a fugitive. There is no way for him to return home peacefully, and it would be dangerous to keep him in your home. Honestly, you had always just thought Sans would just figure it out on his own. Now, however, it doesn't look like he was leaving his brother's side until he turned to dust.

You take a deep breath. Shit, what are you about to do?

"You... You can stay here," you say, trying to keep your confidence about this, "for now, until... He… Papyrus..."

Sans gives you a quizzical look.

"you are aware i am a wanted man, right?" He says.

You snort. "Of course, but you're also Papyrus' brother. For now, I'll house you."

Sans' looked absolutely shocked, then his expression softens. "i'll have to take you up on the offer. thanks."

So far, you can't see any resemblance to his brother's personality either. He's quiet and thoughtful, whereas Papyrus was loud and boisterous. You can't say which you prefer yet, but Sans does feel a bit closer to you in personality. He certainly won't be harder to care for than Papyrus was… if only that you will have to hide his existence more.

The two of you sit in the room for a while longer. Eventually, though, when nothing else can be gained from sitting there, you stand up.

"Well," you say. "I'd better go check on Mel and tell her what's going on."

Sans nods.

To your shock, Sans gets up with you and follows you down the stairs. When you ask him if he'd like to stay in the room, he just shrugs. You decide to leave it be.

Melody is sitting on the couch in the middle of the living room. When she sees the two of you, she straightens up a little.

"Melody," you say. "This is Sans, Papyrus' brother. He'll be... Staying here for a while."

Sans raises a hand. "sup?"

Melody waves back awkwardly.

You look at both of them. They seem as uncomfortable as you, but there is absolutely no animosity. Good.

You look at your watch.

Shit. You're late.

"I'm going to get Alphys, then I'll be right back."

"alphys?" Sans asks. Oh, that's right. They're friends, aren't they?

"Yeah... She lives here too," you tell him, grabbing your purse. "Mel, you want to come with?"

She shakes her head. Figures. Even in her shocked, depressed state, there is a new person in the house - she's going to want to know every little detail of their life.

"I'll be right back," you say again, and as you are shutting the door, you notice the look on Sans face. It looks... Hopeful?

Whatever.

You head back to work to get Alphys. As you drive down the road, you reflect on what just happened. An unstable man broke into your home to visit his bedridden brother, and instead of telling him to leave you just invited him to live with you, then left him alone with your little sister.

You sigh. It's a lot more complicated than that, but you do know you've just done something big, and you're not sure if it's going to be good or bad.


	10. There'll Always Be A Monster Lover

Alphys is waiting for you. She hadn't seen you leave earlier and was worried that something had happened to Papyrus that made you leave so suddenly. You answer her fantic questions with half answers and evasions until you two get to the car. Alphys is a lot of things, but when it comes to picking up on social cues, she is completely inept.

"Alphys," you say when you are alone in the car. "Sans is at the house."

She stops and stares at you.

"Oh…" She says after a moment. "Oh… that's…"

"Yeah," you nod. "Yeah, and he's going to be staying there for a while."

Alphys' glasses almost fall off her face. Honestly, in any other situation, the looks she is giving you would be hilarious. You cut her off before she can start with her next line, "And yes, I do know he's a fugitive now."

Alphys' mouth hangs open, then she shuts it and looks forward.

"I would… uh… like to know," you start awkwardly. "What is Sans like? I've met him once but… he… he wasn't… I don't think was acting like normally does."

Alphys shrugs. "He's a nice guy, a little too laid back, if you ask me - o-or anyone really." She's reminiscing. "He worked a few sentry stations back before the barrier broke; Undyne would always complain he wasn't doing his job."

Interesting. You don't think that's anything like the Sans you've seen. He worked hard to track down his brother - probably put more effort into that than he has anything else.

Alphys is fiddling with her coat. Something is on her mind.

"Something wrong?" You ask, and Alphys curls in on herself further. You mentally barade yourself, but Alphys does answer.

"I… I haven't s-seen Sans in…" Alphys says. "Things didn't end well…" There's a beat of silence. "I did some bad things back then… the amalgamates... I d-don't know if he'll… I don't know _how_ h-he'..."

That's… interesting to say the least. Alphys is pretty tight lipped about her past, and the fact that she was saying anything at all about it was amazing. You can't imagine what someone like her could have done that was so bad, though, and you tell her as much.

She smiles. "Thanks, but it doesn't change what I did."

You decide to let it go. You just hope that Alphys and Sans get along when they see each other. You are taking a huge risk here. You have already gambled far more than you were willing to bet on all of this coming to a happy ending, and so far it hasn't been going so well.

You make it home and come through the back door. To your surprise, the house lights are on and you can hear music playing.

"... a _bone_ warmer."

"Oh my god!" Melody's laugh sounds through the house. "That's bad. That's _really_ bad."

Hearing your sister laugh may just be the highlight of your day. You realize just how long it's been since you've heard that. Probably no more than two days, but for Mel that's an eternity to go without her normal humor.

Sans is sitting in one of the chairs in the living room. Melody is sitting across from him, sipping a cup of hot chocolate. Sans has a… tired look on his face, but other than that he seems completely normal. If you didn't know any better, you would say that he is just another monster. But you do know better. You can see it when you look for it, the way he holds himself, just a little to straight; the way he looks at you with an understanding that makes you want to hide your mind from him - he's more than meets the eye.

Melody notices you in the doorway.

"Oh, hey!" She says, waving to the two of you. "I made hot chocolate, if you guys want some."

"I- I'm g-good," Alphys says. You look between her and Sans. Sans is looking at her with a scrutinizing stare, which Alphys only holds for a moment before returning her gaze to the floor. The tension isn't quite tangible, but it is defiantly there. However, whatever thoughts Sans has he quickly puts them aside and puts on a welcoming facade.

"you should really try the hot chocolate," Sans smiles, though you can see it's forced. "better get some before it's too choco _late_."

Melody snorts.

"He's hilarious!" She says, still laughing. "Tell them the one you just told me."

"Maybe later," he says, standing up. "It's good to see you again, Al."

"L-likewise," Alphys says, glancing up quickly.

Sans walks beside her and gives her a friendly pat on the shoulder. "Can we talk for a minute."

Sans and Alphys head down the hall and you are left along with your sister.

"So how is he?" You ask, taking a seat.

"He's amazing!" Melody says giddily, then looks down sadly. "He's not much like Pap though..."

You nod, remembering the sad circumstances. Melody looks glum for a moment too, then perks up,

"But hey!" She says, "Sans says he thinks there might be a way to fix this."

You raise an eyebrow. "Oh, but Alphys said-"

"I know," her expression falters a little. "He says it small, but there is a chance."

You feel a small flicker of hope in your chest. It hurts, but you don't let it go. Papyrus might survive. Even if the chances are slim, they are still there if Sans is to be believed.

Over the music you can hear voices being raised, which is impressive considering the volume. You debate it for a moment in your head, but you eventually decide to intervene. You excuse yourself from your sister and make you way down the hall towards the voices. You stop in front of a closet door and listen.

"I-I can't, Sans," Alphys says. "I-I've th-thought about it, too, and- and I just _can't._ "

"why not, al?" Sans voice comes through. "this isn't any different from the other times."

"T-this time I-I k-k-know what will happen!" Alphys hisses. "He'll become an amalgamate!"

"we don't know that," Sans says. You feel that Alphys was about to say something, but was cut off by Sans. "your the one who _made_ the cure, you can fix it, alphys. i know you can." There's a pause. "besides, even if he _does_... well, at least he'll be alive."

There's a frustrated sigh. "Sans, I-" there's a beat where Alphys seems to be thinking, then says. "I would n-need my equipment, my lab- I- I'd need c-concentrated Determination - and even then it might not work."

You open the door.

The two are standing there, attention suddenly turned to you. Alphys looks embarrassed while Sans looks mildly annoyed. You feel your face heat up, shamed for listening in on their conversation, but you quickly put it aside.

"I... I want to help," you say. Whatever Sans was expecting you to say, it wasn't that. He looks at you with a face screwed up in confusion, and with a hint of what you can only call animosity. You take deep breath, "If there's anything I can do... I'll do it. I want to save Papyrus too. He's my friend." On the word friend, Sans' eye lights blink out, and you are momentarily shocked, but then he's back to normal.

Sans and Alphys exchange a look. A silent conversation seems to take place; when they finally break their gaze Alphys turns to you and says, "I-I want to help too... I r-really do but I... it's j-just-"

"i'll get the determination," Sans cuts her off. "that's the problem, right? you don't have the materials. i can get them for you!"

"Sans, you can't!" Alphys cries

"why not?" Sans shrugs. "i can't exactly make things _worse_ for myself."

"Determination?" You ask.

Alphys explains, "It's a s-substance I was e-experimenting with before… it's found in c-certian humans and I… I…"

"it can be used to cure fallen monsters," Sans says.

You're eyes widen.

So there is a cure.

"Sans, it's not that simple," Alphys says, exasperated. "E-even if I had everything I n-needed, he could still b-become a-a-an amalgamate."

"Amalgamate?"

"a side effect of the drug," Sans answers quickly, then turns back to Alphys. "but even if he does, he'll still be _alive_." Alphys looks down, defeated and tired. Sans puts a hand on her shoulder. "if i get the stuff, will you try?"

Alphys doesn't answer for a long time, then sighs, "Y-yeah, I guess. But how are you even going to get to the Underground? The place is crawling with humans! Someone is bound to recognize you."

Sans shrugs, "not unless they don't see me."

"It's too dangerous," Alphys says.

"i don't care," Sans gives a tired smile. "it's not like there are any other options."

"I could go," You offer. The pair looks at you in shock, like they had forgotten that you were even there. "I could go to the underground legally; it's not unheard of for humans to do that, especially scientists."

"That… might actually work," Alphys says. Sans nods in agreement, though he gives you an odd look that you decide not to read into.

With everything supposedly settled, the group goes back to the living room, leaving you alone for a moment to contemplate what you just agreed to. You just told them you were going to go to the Underground for god knows how long and get some mystery miracle cure that… no. You know what, no. You aren't going to over analyze this. Your friend's life is on the line, and you know there isn't a damned person in this world who will help him but you and the three people sitting a room away.

You know what you have to do. You have a purpose.

You march into the living room and start planning.

It takes three days to make all the arrangements. You have to first book a pass to the Underground, which is easy enough since almost no one wants to visit the land of the monsters. It becomes even easier when you give your reasoning as "scientific study". There have been independent scientists and archaeologists coming in droves to study the caves for years; you will blend right in. You live about seven hours away by car, but there aren't any airports near you and plane tickets would be too expensive; you'll just have to drive. Calling out from work was almost harder than the actual planning. Everyone's been so busy recently and your absence would be missed. You have to make up a dying relative to visit to get off, and the guilt eats at you, but you are able to push it aside since it's not entirely a lie.

Finally, it's the night of the trip. You are packing your bags, trying to decide what you'll need in the Underground. Alphys says the climate there varies greatly from place to place, so you end up packing a lot more than you think you'll need. After all, if the expedition takes you more than about four or five days… well… it just wouldn't be worth anything.

"what's your game?"

You jump about six feet in the air. You spin around to find Sans standing in front of your door. Your closed door. You didn't even hear him come in!

"You startled me", You say, hand on your beating chest.

San's eyes narrow a little, then he shrugs. "sorry."

It's a pretty bitter 'sorry', but you take it.

Sans has been living with you since he came here, and in that time you haven't really interacted with him that much as he spends most of his time with Papyrus. However, the times that he has interacted with you he's been a bit… distant. He'll find an excuse to leave the room or just won't speak to you. You wouldn't mind as much if you weren't about to go on a dangerous task for him, but then you would remind yourself that you were doing this for Papyrus, not Sans.

Sans' unease around you never escaped your notice, but you didn't feel it necessary to bring it up before. You would have thought him an introvert if it wasn't for how he acted around Melody. They joke, they laugh, and he plays minor pranks on her that seem to amuse her more than annoy. When you aren't in the room, he's laid back, fun, and an all around nice guy... but when you're there...

Maybe he just doesn't like you.

"so," he moves a little closer to you, and you can't help but get a confrontational vibe from him. "why're you doing this?"

You give him a confused look. "I told you, I want to help Papy-"

He cuts you off with a wave of his bony hand. "i heard you, i just don't believe you."

You find yourself slightly offended.

"Why are you asking now?" You say, packing your things a little harder. "You've been here a few days, now. You could have brought it up at any time."

"i was sure that you were just sayin' you would go to the underground, i didn't think you'd actually do it." Sans says nonchalantly. "i thought you'd have called the cops by now - you know, tell 'em about the scary monster living in your house."

Now you are offended. You're risking your butt for him and his little brother, and now he's accusing you of working some angle? You slam your suitcase shut.

"Well, you don't have to worry about that," You say, hauling the bag off your bed.

"this isn't going to end badly, is it?" He says, looking as pissed as you feel. "i don't want to regret trusting you."

"No, it's not," You snap, turning to march out of the door. "And just in case you're wondering, I'm _really_ going to the Underground, I'm _really_ going to get that 'Determination' stuff, and I'm _really_ going to-"

Sans steps in between you and the door, his pupils gone from his eyes.

"Y o u' e."

You stop dead in your tracks, genuinely afraid of the monster in front of you. You hand goes up to your throat; you feel it closing, like someone is choking you. You look away from Sans and close your eyes. With a few deep breaths, the choking feeling subsides.

"Yeah… whatever…" You push past him and out the door.

Alphys and Melody is waiting downstairs for you. Alphys is the one who's been behind all of the planning for this trip, helping you with maps of the Underground to excuses if you get caught. She has in her claws a small stack of papers - hand drawn diagrams of the labs and instructions on where to go and what to do. She's been working on them every day, making sure that each and every little detail is covered

"G-good l-l-luck," She stutters, handing you the papers. You put them diligently into your bag, and give your sister a big, enveloping hug.

"I'll see you soon," You say.

"Don't get caught."

"I won't."

And with that, you make your way out the door. As you close it, you see Sans standing at the top of the stairs. He is looking at you with that uncertain look - the one that makes you feel as if he's looking directly into your mind, trying to find something that's not there. You hold his gaze for longer than you intended, then the door is shut.

You drive all night.

You had planned for this - even getting extra sleep the night before - but you didn't expect it to be so difficult to stay awake. It doesn't help that you are alone in the car. The only time that you've ever taken a trip that was this long was with Melody almost five years ago. You remember how hard it was to keep your eyes open then, but you always had Melody's constant stream of babbling to keep you awake and distract you from the monotony of the road.

You get by, though, but not without the help of several energy drinks and an old CD from a band you forgot you liked.

When the sun starts coming up, though, you begin to notice the terrain change. It goes from a flatter plan, to hills, to rocky hills until finally, you begin to see mountains. You are getting closer. You follow the signs and your map to the one mountain everyone knows.

Ebott.

Even before monsters came to the surface, the mountain was famous for its legend, so you heard. Children would wander up, then disappear. Of course, now everyone knows what happened to them. The monsters savagely killed them, stealing their souls for their own personal gain… though now that you had actually interacted with monsters, you wonder how much of that is true.

When you reach the fabled mountain, you see a large fence topped with razor wire. It surrounds a check point station that has a tunnel leading to the underground. You pull your car up to the gait and show the man your ID and pass. He welcomes you in and you park your car in the visitor parking.

When you get in there are several layers of security to pass through. You are reminded of the airport quite a bit. They check your bags, search your pockets, ask a few questions… it seems completely normal.

"Hey! Stop her!"

You look to your right. A monster is trying desperately to break free from several security guards. You realize she is trying to run back across the border. You look down at your feet and keep moving.

This isn't an airport.

This is a prison.

You feel sick the rest of the way through, but you do finally make it to the end of the security line.

"Can I see your ID and ticket?"

You fish out your papers and hand them to the woman at the desk.

"So, scientific expedition?" She says with a gruff voice. "What'cha looking for."

"Some rocks," You tell her what Alphys advised for you to say. "There are some down here that are supposed to light up."

The woman laughs. "I've seen 'em," She says. "They're pretty. Too pretty for a dump like this."

You nod, taking back your documents.

"I always liked those rocks," She continues. "Too bad they're mostly gone now."

"Oh?" You ask.

"Yeah, people's been taken 'em" The woman tells you. "Scientific study and decorations; people love em! It's good they's going to be shared with the world. They wasn't doin' much good here. The monsters talk about them like they stars. Ha, dumb animals. If you ask me, they'as wasted on these creatures down here."

You feel anger rising in your stomach. Papyrus loved those stones, even if he liked the stars better, and now you know that those aren't even there for him anymore. The humans have taken everything from these people! You quickly cool of and nod to the woman. You can't look angry, you can't look upset. You know what you are about to see, and you know that if you want to help Papyrus that you have to blend in and let it go. You cannot interfere-

-not yet, at least.

At the end of it all there is an elevator. It's not a nice one, like you would see in hotels or apartments - it was more like a mine shaft. Oh well, it'll get you where you need to go. You wait almost a half hour for an elevator to arrive, and you share it with another group of two people, a boy and a girl.

"I'm looking for a tall one this time," The man says to woman. He's a little younger than you, you think, but he's wearing a suit that says he has money. "Maybe one of those wolf people. It has to be strong."

"Why are you so focused on it being strong?" The girl says, not looking up from her phone. "I want one that's polite. That last one we had was such an ass."

"Heh," The man scoffs, making a face like he just bit into something sour. "Yeah, that one sucked. It wouldn't know respect if it hit it in the jaw. I'm glad it's gone."

"I think we should go female this time," She says. "Those are always easy to break in."

"You kidding?" The man replies. "Girl monsters are the worst."

"Says you," She says. "Most people _love_ women monsters."

You realize these people are Travel Slavers - humans who go to the underground personally and buy people off the street. The practice is uncommon since it takes a lot of money to do, but you've heard of it over the years. You can't imagine what that must be like, to be living your life and suddenly have someone drag you away to serve someone for the rest of your life. It's sickening. You clench your fists and lean against the wall of the elevator. Just breath, you'll be out of this place soon.

"Hey, you," the man addresses you. "What do you think? Male or Female? Be a tie breaker for us."

Why in the hell is he asking you? You don't want to be a part of this.

"I don't know the situation enough to tell you," You say, trying to keep your answer noncommittal.

"Well," the man says, getting close. "We're buying for a wealthy seller, and he wants us to pick out a monster that we think will sell the best on the market."

"Then why does gender matter?" You ask.

"Well, what would you buy, a male or a female? You are the target demographic, after all." He sounds damn innocent right now, like he's trying to sell you a car. You want to beat that smug look right off his face.

"Target demographic?" You ask, trying not to grit your teeth.

"Of course," He smiles. "You're coming here to find a slave for yourself, right?"

You are taken a back. "No! Never!" You shout before you can stop yourself.

The two people stare at you, perplexed. No one says anything for a long moment, then the Man laughs condescendingly. "Oh, I see. I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were a monster lover."

The sneer on his face almost restarts your anger, but you remain calm and mutter, "No, I'm not a monster lover. Just not in the market for a slave is all."

"Whatever you say," The man says flippantly. The door dings barely a second later and the two leave. You stay on the elevator for a moment, still shaky after that confrontation. You can't get into fights like that with every asshole you meet down here - you'd be caught for sure if you bring that kind of attention to yourself.

You push yourself forward and into the cave. According to the signs, this place is called "Home." It is apparently the ancient ruins of one of the Monster's old kingdoms. There are a couple of humans selling things in the pathways; mostly practical things like blankets, food, tents - but there are others selling things like dolls and candies and treats, half of which you are _sure_ are made by slaves.

Right now, though, you are tired. Dead tired. You ask around and find out there is a human rest stop called "The Queen' Inn" not too far into the ruins. Apparently it was the queens' old house before she moved into the palace.

You make your way there and check in. The woman behind the desk gives you a room key and you make your way down the hall. You can tell this was once someone's house. It feels so cozy and warm, like an old lady's house. On the way to your room you pass by an open door and overhear two maids talking.

"...It'll get better once as tourism hits up this place," One says. "If they'd just clear out the rest of the monsters, this place wold be great to vacation to!"

You grip your bag tighter. It's not the worst thing you've heard since coming here, not by far, but it still grates you. You step forward and continue on, but not before hearing the other girl's reply.

"I don't know, it's not like the monsters have anywhere else to go," She says. "And some of them are really nice."

"Ha, you monster lover!"

You smile. Despite all of the mean things people say about monsters, there will always be the few sympathetic ones, like her - and like you. You make it to your room - it's not too far considering there aren't that many rooms in the house - and you flop onto the bed. It's so soft after your long day, and you don't even change clothes before you fall asleep.


	11. Snowdin

You wake up in the middle of the night. Despite your tiredness, you find yourself completely unable to sleep. You get up and pace the room, examining every little item you find, until eventually you venture out to find a bathroom.

"There aren't any bathrooms," the night worker tells you apologetically. "You'll have to go to an outhouse."

You find the outhouse easily enough, and you notice how the "outside" is dimmer than it was when you came. It seems that the lights outdoors cycle between day and night; you wonder if that was a monster or a human decision.

On your way back to the house, you notice something moving in the bushes. You go to investigate, but find that the bushes are only full of leaves. You turn around to head back to the hotel and nearly have a heart attack.

"going somewhere?" Sans says.

"The bathroom!" You blurt out a little too loudly, immediately blushing. You quickly look around, and when you are sure that your little outburst hadn't attracted any unwanted attention, you return to Sans. "What are you even doing here? Isn't the point of me coming here so that youwouldn't have to?"

Sans shrugs, but says nothing.

"I'm serious!" You say, trying hard not to raise your voice. "Why are you here? Do you want to get caught?"

Sans glares at you, more out of annoyance than spite. "you don't exactly know the underground that well, and if you get stuck i'll help you out."

"Alphys gave me instructions," You inform him.

"have you read alphys' instructions?" Sans asks. "her handwriting is illegible."

You feel there is more that he is not telling you, but you elect to ignore it. You aren't in the mood to put up with his bullshit. You huff and push past him.

"Just hide yourself, okay?" You tell him. "I don't want to have to tell Papyrus that his brother's dead when he wakes up."

Out of the corner of your eye you see Sans' pupils disappear, but you've seen it before and it doesn't bother you anymore. As much. You look forward once more and continue on your way to the house, trying to stop yourself from shaking. When you reach the door you realize you haven't heard any footsteps. You turn around to scold Sans, but find he's disappeared.

Huh, must be a light walker.

You return to your room, and now you definitely can't sleep. All this planning and work you put into this and he just waltzes right in like it was nothing! The man is going to get himself killed, and if he doesn't then there wasn't any reason for you to be here in the first place!

It makes you want to break something, scream into a pillow, slam a door - but you don't. You can't. You are an adult, dammit; you shouldn't let anyone affect you like this. Especially not some dumb, rude, annoying skeleton. The only annoying skeleton you are here for is Papyrus (and even he's more tolerable than him .)

You throw yourself onto the bed, despite knowing full well you aren't going to sleep.

The next day you check out of the little bed and breakfast - after the breakfast, of course. Before leaving, you purchase a lunch, since it will be a while before you get to your next checkpoint. You sling your bag over your shoulder and start the long hike across the Underground ruins. There are several puzzles and traps that have been disabled, but even still you know that Papyrus would have had a field day in this place.

The thought of your fallen friend makes your chest clench. You are reminded of your purpose here, and it fills you with determination.

As you walk you notice you have a constant pair of eyes on your back, and you have a feeling you know who it is. You can't tell if he is following you because he doesn't trust you or because he wants to protect you. You suspect the former, but if it is the latter you know it is only so you can help his brother. You don't mind that, though. Sans doesn't have to like you, and you don't have to like him.

You reach the end of the ruins, and the door is wide open, letting cold, snowy air in. You wrap your coat around you tighter and fish out a pair of fuzzy gloves. How it gets so cold in an underground cavern is beyond you - not to mention how it is snowing. You push through the snow and follow the path. Every so often you'll pass another human, wave hello to them, then be on your way; what strikes you as odd is the lack of monsters. The ruins had some monsters, albeit most of them were slaves and the rest were pretty scattered, but you had expected to see at leastsome out in the open... Or at least as open as it gets down here.

You put it to the back of your mind.

You walk most of the morning, if your watch is to believed, and you settle down for a lunch break in a little crevasse. You look over the instructions Alphys gave you while you eat. Sans was right about one thing, Alphys' handwriting is horrible, but other than that the directions are pretty legible. From here you should be about ten minutes to Snowdin, Papyrus and Sans' old home. You are curious what their old town looks like. Papyrus had spoken of it several times, but you couldn't really picture what an underground city run by monsters would look like.

You set the papers down to enjoy the rest of your sandwich when a jogger runs by and settles down near you.

"Hope you don't mind," They say.

"Not at all," You say politely, going back to your food.

"Man, it's really coming down," They say, looking up. You put down your sandwich and give them your attention politely. "Pretty freaky it can snow down here, right?"

You nod.

"So what's your business down here?" They ask.

"Scientific discovery," you say vaguely.

"Cool!" They smile. "I live here. Just up ahead, actually."

Your eyebrows shoot up. "In Snowdin?"

They nod. "Yep! It's a pretty awesome town. It's got humans and monsters and all kind of junk."

"Really," you say, "I haven't seen any monsters around."

The jogger looks a little disheartened, "Yeah, they're all kept in the town limits. Humans want to keep an eye on 'em, ya know?"

That's sick, but you keep your opinion to yourself. You don't know this person well enough to judge what their opinions on the issue are - though you suspect their feelings are similar to yours.

The jogger suddenly perks up. "You heading that way?"

You nod slightly.

"Well then, why don't you follow me?" They say. "I was just about to head back."

You smile and thank them. The two of you walk the rest of the way to Snowdin, making light small talk. You can no longer feel eyes on your back, or see flashes of blue out of your corner vision. You sigh in relief. Sans has at least enough sense not to follow you with another human this close. You hope that maybe he'll just leave and let you do your work. You doubt he will, but you can dream.

It takes less than a half-hour to make it to Snowdin, and you are somewhat shocked at what you find. There is a large wall with a metal gate shutting in the little city. Guards stand post outside the gate, letting only the humans in and out. You swallow hard. Even in the underground monsters aren't free. Not really.

You show your paperwork to the men at the gate. They let the two of you in and you bid farewell to the jogger.

The town inside is dreary, though the atmosphere is quite upbeat. The houses look like the ones in a holiday snow globe, and there's even a little Christmas tree in the center of town. Do monsters even celebrate Christmas?

Despite the overall cheery demeanor, the town itself is incredibly bleak. Unlike the outside, there are monsters literally everywhere. There are more monsters here than you have ever seen in your life combined. They shuffle around, eyes on the ground, looking broken; the sickness that has permeated your life as of recent returns at full force.

"Would you look at that!" A voice rings.

A young man in a fancy overcoat accompanied by a woman in a nice dress is waving at you. He has a cigarette carelessly placed in his mouth and...

Oh no…

it's the Travel Slavers from the elevator.

You pretend not to hear him and walk onward, only to be stopped by a hand on your shoulder.

"My sister and I were just talking about you," he smiles. "I was actually hoping to see you again."

You swallow down your discomfort and return a sweet smile. "Yeah, haha, I'm here. Just passing through, really. I'm actually in a hurry to get to…" Oh god, what was the name of the place with the rocks? Wetlands? Waterplace?

"You can't be leaving so soon. Why don't you come out to dinner with us?" he asks. "There's this nice place not too far from here. It tastes almost like surface food. Call it my apology for the way I treated you earlier."

"Sorry, I already ate," You tell him, trying to back away.

"Nonsense," He says, "I insist. The food is to die for."

"If the grease doesn't kill you first," The sister speaks up, and the man nudges her.

You want to roll your eyes. They honestly act a little like you and your sister, and that sickens you. The fact that they are being nice to you, that the man has obviously taken a liking to you and wants to treat you for being rude earlier… it's so… human. These people aren't allowed to be human! They are doing awful, horrible things and you don't want to be associated with them in any way.

"I… I…" You stutter, at a loss. The man puts a hand on your arm and points over across the street.

"Look, it's that place right over there," He says, finger extended to a place labeled 'Grillbys' in bright neon lights. "Meet up with us there at around nine and I'll treat you. Sound good?"

"Sure," You tell him dismissively, shaking off his hand. You walk off and make your way through the town. You quickly realize how much of an outsider you are. When the monsters see you, they quickly break eye contact and scurry off. Mothers hold their children closer and older monsters scowl. You feel awful.

A little monster child bumps into you.

"Oh, I'm sorry," You say. The little bunny jumps back and looks at you with terrified eyes. He probably expects you to hit him or something. You give him a reassuring smile. "You're fine."

He looks at you a little confused, and honestly a little guilty, then takes off. You give a small wave, and you notice people staring - monster and humans alike. The monsters seem flabbergasted while the humans seem insulted. You feel a blush creep up your face and quickly scurry off. You don't like the way those humans were looking at you.

The adorable winter town is becoming more of a frozen hell the more time you spend outside, and you end up in a Library (spelled Librarby.) The woman running the place, to your surprise, is a monster. She eyes you cautiously as you enter, and you feel the same guilt that you have felt in the past.

You find the place is filled with monster literature. You read up on the history, and it's interesting to hear it told from a monster's perspective. Not a lot of humans enter during your stay, and you don't find that shocking at all. The monsters seem uncomfortable with your presence, however, and you quickly take your leave.

It's quite a bit later in the day, and the street lights are dimming quickly. You're tired, but not quite ready to call it a night. You find a lonely corner in an alleyway and sit down. You pull your coat around you tight and snuggle into your scarf. Closing your eyes, you only plan to rest for a moment.

"Excuse me," a tiny, sad sound voice comes. You look over and see a little monster. He looks a little like Alphys, except he has no arms. He is wearing a torn up striped shirt.

You blink, then smile. The little monster shuffles and you stand up. "I'm sorry, am I in your way?"

"Ah, no I..." He sounds so scared, and you reach out to comfort the small thing only for him to stumble backwards.

"I'm sorry," You say, inching closer. The Monster Kid cries out, batting your hands away with his head. "It's alright, I'm not going to hurt you." You resolve to sit on your heels, letting him calm himself down. When his panic finally subsides, he curls up and rocks on the balls of his feet. The subterranean wind blows for a long while; though the two of you are blocked from it by the walls you can still hear it howling.

"You're in my home," He finally mutters.

"Pardon?" You say, looking around. There isn't much in the alley, except for a small cardboard box and…

oh…

"Oh… Oh I'm sorry." You quickly shuffle out of his way and let him pass. He moves forward and tucks himself in under the blankets in the box. You look at him for a long time, much to his annoyance.

"What?" He snaps, suddenly aggressive. "What do you want!?"

"Nothing!" You step back, tripping over a loose stone and falling on your butt. The Monster Kid looks at you curiously, then stifles a giggle. You laugh a little too.

"I'm sorry I got in your space," you tell him. "I was just sitting down. I didn't mean to bother you. I'll go now."

"You don't have to," He says quickly and you stay put. "You're… you're the first nice human I've met since… since them ."

You wait for him to elaborate, but when he stays silent you don't pry.

The more you look at him, the more pity you feel in your stomach. The kid looks to be about eleven or thirteen years old, though monster ages can be deceiving. He has dark circles under his eyes and dirt covering his face. You feel pity well up in your stomach.

You push yourself a little closer, soaking your pants bottoms in the snow. The kid looks so lonely, and sad. You wonder when the last time was that he had someone to talk to, or hell, a decent meal for that matter. Screw that prissy son of a bitch, you're going to take this little kid out for something to eat. You reach for your wallet to check your money when you find that the lump in your pocket is no longer there.

You've lost your wallet.

"Ah crap!" You shout. Monster Kid flinches and you quickly correct yourself. "Sorry, kid, it's not you, I swear. It's just… I… I gotta go."

You quickly get up and run out of the alleyway.

Crap!

Shit!

Alphys' instructions - and all of your funds, for that matter - had been in there! You'll never make it to the lab now! Even with Sans trailing you and providing tips, you are now broke! You literally can't afford to be here.

Unless you had help…

Nope. Nun uh. Not happening. You are not going to that stuck up jerk…

But if you don't then Papyrus will…

You sigh and stick your hands into your pockets. You don't have much of a choice now, do you?

"Oh, I'm glad to see you made it," The man says. His sister has her eyes glued firmly to her phone.

"Well, I figured since you invited me, it would be rude not to show up," You lie.

He laughs warmly. "Of course, of course." He leads you into the little pub and you are reminded of the bars in the city near where you live. It's just as lively, and much to your surprise there are both monsters and humans eating here, although the monsters are mostly to one side and sitting at less furnished tables.

The man wrinkles his nose, "Yeah, that's the only problem with this place. It's even run by one of them. Too bad he's not up for grabs, he's a wonderful cook."

You feel absolutely disgusted, but swallow it down and close your eyes. Count to three, you can do this. You open your eyes again and take a seat at a booth sitting across from the pair.

"I do not believe we have been formally introduced," He says, giving you that odd smile again. "My name is James, and my sister here is Mary." Mary gives a small wave, then returns to her phone. "And you are?"

You give him your name quietly.

"I like that name," He says, grin only growing. You begin to feel sick. You don't like this guy, you don't even care for him, and yet here you are about to eat with him. You hate the way the bar seemed to stop when you walked in with these people, the way everyone was whispering and the monsters were clearing out. They associate you with them, and you hate that.

You have to remind yourself over and over. You're doing this for Papyrus. For Papyrus.

A fiery monster approaches your table and you quickly order the first thing on the menu.

"I'll have the same," James says. Mary just points to something on the menus and the monster disappears into the kitchen.

"So, what is someone like you doing in the Underground?" James folds his arms on the table. "We don't see many nice looking people down here."

You bite back a snarl and keep your grin as wide as before. Huh, so this is what it's like to be Sans.

"A bit of scientific research," you tell him.

"Oh?"

You wave your hand dismissively, "Don't bother asking for the details, my company won't allow it." Your heart is going a million miles an hour, and you hope it doesn't show in your voice.

"So you're in the sciences?" James leans a little. "That's fascinating." You nod nonchalantly. "I know I can't ask, but what is it your studying? Geology? Culture?"

You shrug. "It's not important, I'm sure it would bore you."

He's more and more curious, and you feel your breathing speeding up. You take a deep breath and try to calm yourself. This next part is the crux, you can't afford to let your nerves get to you now.

"You seem a little nervous," James says, looking concerned. You shrug again, and thankfully the food arrives before he can ask again.

"That was fast," You comment.

"Yeah, another good thing about this place," James smiles. "Dig in."

You eat rather slowly, not having much of an appetite left. Your 'companions' don't seem to share this attitude, as the rush through their dinner with a ravenous pace. There is some small talk, mostly between the two siblings, but you make a few comments here and there. As they near the end of their meal, you decide that now is the time, and you begin the next part of your plan.

"So you are interested in my research?" You give a little smile, trying to look as cute as you can.

James nods and swallows, "I would love to know more about it."

"Well, I can't tell you much, but right now my research is in jeopardy," You say, pouting. "You see, earlier today I got robbed."

James gasps. "That's terrible!"

You nod. "My company can't wire me any money here, and without the funds, I'll have to go back empty-handed."

"We can help with that," James says without thought. Mary nudges him hard and gives him a glare.

"It won't be much," You say quickly. "I just need enough to get to Hotland and back."

"That will be fine," James says, much to his sister's dismay, "call it a small donation to the Sciences ."

You feel your spirits lift. You did it! You actually did it. The rest of dinner goes smoothly, and after having the rest of your food wrapped up in a take out box you exit the pub. When you get outside, James hands you a check; before you leave he insists on giving you his phone number and you throw it away as soon as they are gone. You secure the check in your coat pocket and zip it tight.

Now you have one more thing left to do.

You make your way back down the alley you had been sitting in before and you find the small monster curled up in his blankets, shivering.

"Hey," you say lightly, still causing him to start. He looks at you with sleep-hazy eyes and slowly seems to recognize you. "Brought you something."

You hand him the take out box. The food inside is mostly untouched, but the kid doesn't seem to mind. He dives right in, balancing the box on his feet so he can grab the contents with his mouth.

You smile warmly.

"Well then, look at that, they found one!"

You spin around and come face to face with James and his sister. They are looking at you and the kid with a predatory grin.

"I was wondering where you were heading off to," Jame says, looking much more menacing than he did at dinner. You can hear the Monster Kid whimper behind you. "Who's the monster?"

"Just some kid," You say, stand. "I thought-"

"And you brought it food," He laughs. "How cute."

You take a step back, then remember the kid behind you and halt. Why do you feel so threatened by this guy? He's just some rich brat. You can take him if you had to. Maybe.

"I think we should take this one," Mary says, moving forward. "It's a little deformed, but I'm sure we can find someone looking for a pet."

The kid is petrified with fear, and you stand in their way.

"That's not necessary!" You shout. "He's just a kid."

"Easier to break in this way," Jame says, pushing past you. The kid tries to run, but trips over his own feet and lands face first in the snow. "Come on, monster, let's not be difficult."

He reaches for the kid. You are about to stop him when Mary steps close to you and puts a hand on your shoulder. "Call it payment. For all the money we've invested in your 'research'."

The kid screams and struggles to get to his feet, and you throw the woman off of your shoulder and rush to be help him, only to feel yourself lifted a foot off the ground.

"heh, would'ja look at that… not every day you see a human fly."

The kid gets to his feet and makes a break for it. The three of you are left floating while the figure at the end of the ally stands relaxed, one hand in the air. You instantly recognize him and your heart sinks.

Sans lets the three of you down slowly.

"now then," he says "with that out of the way, maybe we can talk this out."

* * *

 **A/N: Want to know a few secrets? I actually hate the way this fic turned out. It's nothing like my original design. I'm thinking that after it's done, I'm going to do a remake to try and get it right.**

 **Also, I have a new fic I'm working on right now. It's a Baby Blaster/** Underfell **work, for all of you peoples into that stuff - check it out! It's call Out of House And Home.**

See you next time (Hopefully sooner)


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